As Admins we don’t have much good to say about Lyft but most of their drivers certainly praise the platform. Three of us tried Lyft and quit within a week. The reasons will be explained somewhere below. In most areas, drivers who do both Uber and Lyft find that Uber is a lot busier.
If you have any type of criminal record, forget about Lyft. They’ll pull up misdemeanors from 40 years ago and reject your application. Lyft does not go by the recommendations of the Second Chance Initiative or the Second Chance Act. It is what it is. If you have a criminal record of any type, forget about Lyft.
Based on the thousands of screenshots Uber and Lyft drivers love posting in various driver groups, it appears as if Lyft pays better than Uber. Of course it all depends on the area in which you drive and the customers themselves. Everyone is eager to share a screenshot of a trip with a $100 tip but few even mention that they also drove a customer 15 minutes and earned $2.63.
If you Google something similar to “Uber earnings versus Lyft” you’ll quickly see a common theme. Almost every post or article states that Lyft drivers earn less than Uber drivers. In some areas, though, Lyft has an odd advantage that many drivers won’t experience. In areas where most of the passengers are tourists, Ubers are practically impossible to find. The tourists might want to ride to the airport, which makes an Uber driver unavailable for 60-90 minutes. Then another tourist books an airport run, and another, and another. When it gets really busy, Lyft is the only option locals have to get a ride home or out to dinner.
The key to earning a decent living with Lyft is to know your area and to be patient. Don’t worry about your acceptance rate. Decline all crap and wait for a decent trip. Forget about making the levels for Lyft driver rewards program. Being an elite driver doesn’t put any extra cash in your pocket.
HOW DO YOU BECOME A LYFT DRIVER?
You can sign up to become a Lyft driver on their website at Lyft.com/driver.
You can also download the Lyft Driver app directly from the App Store or Google Play and sign up directly in the app.
Once you’ve completed the Lyft application process you’ll have to wait for your background check. Lyft and most other gig platforms use a third-party service called Checker to run the background checks. If you want to check on the progress of your background check, you can visit their website at Candidate.Checkr.com. Be aware that if you lived in multiple states, Lyft will have to run a criminal check in every state where you lived. This takes the longest because some court records are not online so a clerk has to manually check the records for your name.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU EARN DOING LYFT?
According to a recent survey, in mid-2024 the median earnings for a Lyft driver including tips was $31.10 per hour. Of course, median is the earnings in the middle of a list, not the average. If the figure is accurate, the lowest earning driver probably made $12/hour and the driver at the top pulled in $60/hour.
If you believe everything you see posted on social media, Lyft drivers earn $100K per year. That’s entirely possible if you want to drive full time and fail to factor in the standard mileage deduction for driving 5000 miles per week.
