Uber Eats Base Pay

Does Uber Eats offer any base pay, and if so, how much is it?

We’ll explore the details in this article.

What is Uber Eats Base Pay?

Delivery drivers for Uber Eats do receive a Base Fare fee per delivery, however, there is no base hourly pay. After expenses, most Uber drivers report earning about $8-12 per hour and about $15/hour before expenses, with a rather wide range depending upon many factors.

How Is Uber Eats Base Fare Pay Calculated?

Uber Eats has recently made changes to its base pay calculations and reporting. While they claim to make it easier to understand, it seems to actually be less transparent, and many people report that the base pay seems to have gone down in the process.

Uber no longer publishes its base pay rates . Instead, Uber’s help page about how delivery fares are calculated, describes a general formula for total trip earning.

They go into both further detail and obfuscation on their help page, “New Earnings Structure and Upfront Trip Information.” On this page, Uber explains that the Base Fare is lower in order to “make room” for a Trip Supplement.

Uber states on this page that they will no longer itemize the Base Fare rate at all, purportedly, in their words, to “help simplify payment calculations.”

Instead, Uber now shows a “Guaranteed Minimum” and other pertinent trip information such as total travel time and pick-up and drop-off locations.

The Guaranteed Minimum includes the Base Fare, any current promotions, the Trip Supplement if applicable, as well as tips, though tips may be adjusted within the following hour. One hundred percent of the tips go to the driver.

This page also briefly mentions that you can only see the Base Fare as a line item after the trip is completed by clicking on “Trip Details.”

Does a Change in Uber Eats Base Pay Affect Surge or other Promotions?

Yes, the change in Uber’s base pay does affect surge and other promotions.

As Uber makes changes that fairly obviously seem to be for their bottom line, while claiming that it is to give their drivers more “control,” Uber drivers should be aware of implications to their overall pay.

Uber’s own help page specifically states that “Boost is a multiplier based on the Base Fare Payment of the trip.” So if they use their opaque calculations to reduce Base Fare Payments, then their boost payments will be reduced in turn, as well.

Uber Base Fare Pay Amount

The exact amount of Uber’s Base Fare Pay is not publicly disclosed, and also appears to change either over time and/or based on certain variables.

Uber’s website explains that the Base Fare Pay covers the pickup, drop-off, distance, and the time of the trip.

Uber drivers have been reporting in online forums that the Base Fare Pay has been going down over time. A post from November 2019 shared that the driver’s Base Fare Pay was $3.00 per trip, while a post in October of 2020 shared that the Base Fare Pay was only $1.45 – less than 50% of what it was a year earlier.

Uber Eats Base Fare Pay vs. Guaranteed Minimum

Uber Eats now lists a Guaranteed Minimum for each trip and no longer itemizes the Base Fare Pay until after the trip is completed.

The company states that they did this to be less confusing, though many long-time Uber Eats drivers may at least partially disagree.

There are many Uber Eats drivers who have complained of the Base Fare Pay seemingly going down over time, and some may suspect that not itemizing the Base Fare Pay is Uber Eats’ way of obscuring this fact.

In fact, Uber’s own website posts a Q & A about their new earnings structure, and specifically address the question, “Why are we lowering base fares?”

Uber’s answer to this question is that the lower Base Fare is to “make room” for a Trip Supplement. Uber Eats drivers may have to decide for themselves if the Trip Supplement does, in fact, make up for a decrease in Base Fare Pay.

On the other hand, some Uber Eats delivery drivers do appreciate being able to easily see the Guaranteed Minimum. It is important to note that the tip may be adjusted up to an hour after the trip.

As stated earlier, the Base Fare Pay is a total payment taking into account the pickup, drop-off, total time of the trip, and the distance. So how is this different from the Guaranteed Minimum?

Guaranteed Minimum

Uber Eats calculates the Guaranteed Minimum with the following formula. They state on their help page that the Guaranteed Minimum equals the Base Fare plus any promotions, plus a Trip Supplement if eligible, plus the customer’s tip. The customer might change the tip up to an hour after the delivery is completed, however.

(The Trip Supplement considers the total time and distance, including to the restaurant, to help “make every delivery worthwhile,” according to Uber.)

Uber states that you will always earn at least the Guaranteed Minimum on any trip. If the trip takes longer than expected, than you may earn more. Also, if the customer adjusts the tip upward, you will earn that extra amount, as well.

Uber and Uber Eats assert that these updates will give its drivers and delivery drivers “greater control” by knowing the essential information about a trip upfront so that he or she can decide for himself or herself if that trip is worth their time.

As a reminder, neither the Uber Eats Base Fare Pay nor the Guaranteed Minimum are hourly wages.

Uber Eats Base Fare Pay vs. Average Hourly Uber Pay Overall

The Uber Eats Base Fare Pay may be only a few dollars per delivery. It varies depending on the pickup location and drop-off, and the total distance and time of the trip.

In addition to this, Uber Eats drivers usually, though not always, receive a tip, as well as a possible Trip Supplement and any promotions or boost.

Again, it’s important to keep in mind that the Uber Eats Base Fare Pay and the Guaranteed Minimum are per delivery, not per hour.

The Uber Eats delivery driver’s hourly earnings are based on the average total of Guaranteed Minimum rates plus any additional tips that they accumulate each hour.

If he or she does three trips in an hour, then that Guaranteed Minimum plus their average tip gets multiplied by three for that hour’s earnings (minus any expenses, of course). This can add up quite a bit.

Keeping Track of Average Pay

A driver might have more or less trips in an hour, so it’s helpful to keep track of averages over time, and anything that might affect those averages in order to try to increase one’s hourly earnings as much as possible.

Overall, Uber Eats drivers usually report earning about $15 per hour before expenses, but some report earning $24 per hour or more, while others report earning less.

After taking into account expenses such as gas, wear and tear on their car, parking and toll expenses, most Uber Eats drivers report making about $8-12 per hour.

Again, your pay per hour could vary depending upon many variables, but especially how busy and efficient you are.

What is the Uber Eats Base Pay?

Although there is no base hourly pay for Uber Eats delivery drivers, they do receive a Base Fare fee per delivery. On average, overall, most Uber drivers report earning about $8-12 per hour after expenses, or about $15/hour before expenses, with a wide range of pay based on many variables.