The app shows you gross. This shows you what you actually keep — after fuel, wear, and taxes.
This page contains affiliate links. If you sign up through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our full disclosure.
Your rideshare or delivery app is happy to show you a big number at the end of the day. What it never shows you is everything that number quietly owes: the gas you burned, the wear you put on your car, the miles you drove for free, and the taxes nobody withheld for you.
That gap between what the app says and what lands in your pocket is the difference between a good shift and a shift that only felt good. This calculator closes the gap. Enter what you earned and drove, and it strips out the real costs to show your true take-home pay and your actual hourly rate — the number that tells you whether the work is worth it.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved.
GigWorkerTools · Take-home
What you actually keep after fuel, wear & taxes
Not tracking your miles? Every untracked mile is a tax deduction you never claim.
Get a mileage tracker →How to read your results
Your real hourly pay is the number that matters most. It’s what’s left after every cost, divided by every hour you were on the clock — including the time you spent waiting for pings. Compare it to the “app-implied” rate above it, and you’ll usually find the app was flattering you by 30% or more.
The teardown shows exactly where your money went, line by line. If one line looks bigger than you expected, that’s the lever to pull — often it’s fuel or the taxes you hadn’t set aside.
The percentage kept is your reality check: out of every dollar the app credited you, that’s how much you truly keep. Most drivers are surprised how far below 100% it sits.
What’s really eating your pay
Fuel. Obvious, but easy to underestimate. It’s not the price at the pump that hurts — it’s the price times every mile, including the miles you weren’t paid for.
Vehicle wear. This is the silent one. Every mile uses up your tires, brakes, oil, and engine, and slowly lowers what your car is worth. You don’t pay it today, but it always comes due — as a repair, a service, or a lower resale price. Ignoring it makes a ride look profitable when it isn’t. Even a rough 10 cents a mile keeps you honest; the true figure is often higher.
Dead miles. The miles you drive to reach a pickup, and the miles back from a drop-off in the middle of nowhere, are miles you paid for and weren’t paid for. A ride that looks great on paper can quietly turn into a loser once you count the empty driving around it.
Taxes. As a gig worker you’re a 1099 contractor, which means no employer is withholding anything. You owe self-employment tax (15.3%) on top of regular income tax, so many drivers set aside 25–30% of profit to avoid a nasty April. Not sure what your number should be? Run the Gig Worker Quarterly Tax Calculator for a weekly set-aside amount built for your situation.
The IRS lets you deduct your business miles, and for most drivers that deduction is worth more than any single expense on this page — but only if you have the records to claim it. A mileage tracker logs every mile automatically in the background so you’re not reconstructing your year from memory.
How to raise your real hourly rate
Once you can see the real number, you can move it. A few things that consistently help:
Refuse long pickups. If the drive to the customer is a big share of the paid trip, the offer is worse than it looks. Your dead-miles cost is the fastest thing to fix — just say no more often.
Track every mile. The mileage deduction lowers your taxable income, which is real money back at tax time. Most drivers under-claim it because they didn’t keep records. See what it’s worth with the Mileage Deduction Calculator.
Know your break-even. Once you know your cost per mile, you know the minimum a trip has to pay to be worth taking. Below that line, you’re paying to work.
Set your taxes aside weekly. Treating tax like a bill you pay every week — instead of a surprise in April — is the single biggest stress-reducer for self-employed drivers.
Frequently asked questions
Q — How much do Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash drivers really make per hour? It varies widely by city, time of day, and how many dead miles you rack up — but after fuel, wear, and taxes, real take-home is often 30–40% lower than the gross the app shows. The only way to know your number is to run yours. That’s what the calculator above is for.
Q — What’s a good real hourly rate for gig driving? A useful benchmark is whether your real hourly (after all costs) clears your local minimum wage by a comfortable margin — because unlike an employee, you’re also covering your own vehicle and taxes out of that number. If your real rate is close to minimum wage, the work is paying far less than it appears.
Q — What are “dead miles”? Dead miles are the unpaid miles you drive — to reach a pickup, or returning from a drop-off before your next request. They cost you fuel and wear just like paid miles, so counting them is essential to knowing your true rate.
Q — How much should I set aside for taxes as a gig driver? Because you’re a 1099 contractor with no withholding, a common rule of thumb is 25–30% of your profit, covering self-employment tax (15.3%) plus income tax. Your exact number depends on your total income — the Quarterly Tax Calculator gives you a personalized weekly amount.
Q — Can I deduct my mileage? Yes — business miles are deductible using the IRS standard mileage rate, which is updated each year. For many drivers it’s the largest deduction available, but you can only claim what you can document, which is why a mileage tracker pays for itself. See the potential savings with the Mileage Deduction Calculator.
Q — Why does the calculator include “vehicle wear”? Because it’s a real cost even though you don’t pay it today. Driving for money uses up your car faster and lowers its value; leaving it out makes your earnings look higher than they are. Including even a conservative per-mile figure gives you an honest picture.
Q — Does this calculator store my information? No. Every calculation happens in your browser on your device. The numbers you enter are never sent to us or saved. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Q — Is this tax or financial advice? No. This tool gives estimates for planning and education only, and it isn’t tax, legal, or financial advice. For decisions about your taxes, talk to a qualified professional. See our Disclaimer.
Related calculators
Gig Worker Quarterly Tax Calculator — how much to set aside each week
Mileage Deduction Calculator — what your miles are worth at tax time
Which Gig App Pays More? — compare platforms head to head
Self-Employment Tax Calculator — what you’ll owe on your 1099 profit