Uber App: Average Income of UberX Driver in NYC Is Nearly $58,000 Higher Than Average US Taxi Driver
The Uber app service could reportedly help its drivers earn an income of nearly $100,000, much more than average taxi drivers.
Uber, which has provided people access to taxis since 2009, revealed its platform has created 20,000 new driver jobs every month. As a result, Uber has helped generate $2.8 billion per year for the U.S. economy, according to ECONorthwest Analysis.
In New York City alone, the median income for drivers on the UberX service is more than $90,000 per year. As Entrepreneur noted, UberX is the startup company's lower-priced service consisting of hybrid and mid-range cars. On the west coast, some drivers in San Francisco have earned more than $74,000 per year. According to Uber, those income figures demonstrate that being a driver is "sustainable and profitable."
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"Just four years ago we set out to build a better option for people to move around cities — to make getting a ride safer, easier and affordable," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said on the company's blog. "But Uber's positive impact goes further; hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs are using the platform to build their own small business, resulting in a huge job growth engine for cities resulting in billions of dollars being pumped into the U.S. economy."
Uber noted the average income of a non-Uber taxi driver is "often" below the poverty line. According to Salary.com, the average New York taxi driver earns a salary of $38,394 per year, as of June 2. In San Francisco, Salary.com noted the average income for taxi drivers to be $39,762. The national average, however, is much lower at $32,562.
"Even though Uber boasts that it has served as a business-building platform for 'hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs,' many professional taxi drivers in New York also double as Uber drivers — who work, on average, far more than 40 hours per week," reported Entrepreneur magazine's Geoff Weiss, adding, "It is unclear whether the $90,766 figure refers to combined income or if it represents independent operators."
Uber also noted their service has helped law enforcement. In Seattle, DUI arrests dropped by 10 percent since the app launched in the city. In Chicago, crimes against taxis decreased by 20 percent within the first year of Uber's launch in the city.
Launched in 2009, Uber is available to nearly 43 percent of the U.S. population, or 137,451,768 Americans.
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