How Much Can You Make From DoorDash in 2024?

How much can you make from DoorDash? That’s the number one question if you’re thinking about signing up. DoorDash drivers are paid per order, so you can experience a wide range of pay, and there are also several ways to boost your DoorDash pay.

We talked with current DoorDash drivers to find out how much this side hustle pays and hacks for earning more than the average driver. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about DoorDash pay!

What is DoorDash?

DoorDash is an on-demand food delivery service that serves over 7,000 cities across the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, and Germany. It controls nearly 65% of the U.S. food delivery market — making it the most popular one, by far!

People who drive for DoorDash are called Dashers, and they are independent contractors who accept delivery orders, pick them up, and deliver them.

Dashers always keep 100% of their tips, and savvy ones know the secrets to making more than average. Don’t worry, we’re going to share the best tips and hacks for making the most DoorDash pay!

About DoorDash Driver Pay

Like other top food delivery companies, DoorDash driver pay has gone through multiple iterations. The most recent pay model launched in 2019 and guarantees that drivers keep 100% of their tips. It also changed the base pay to $2-$10 per order depending on factors like estimated time, distance, and desirability.

There’s no average DoorDash driver pay because pay varies for each order.

Understanding the new pay model will help you get a better sense for how much DoorDash drivers make. Let’s take a look:

Like we said, base pay ranges from $2-$10 per order. Drivers always keep 100% of that amount, and it goes up based on difficulty. 

Promotions are one of the first ways to boost your pay, and DoorDash offers these opportunities  during busy periods. Here’s how they work:

• Peak Pay: Drivers will see the in-app map light up red with areas that are paying an extra $1-$4 per delivery. This is added to your base pay.
• Challenges: This promotion incentives drivers to complete a certain number of deliveries in a set amount of time. An example is, “Complete 15 deliveries between June 1 – June 7 for an extra $20.”

You can see how much tips increase your pay in the screenshot below. One of our readers shared this with us, and you can see that over the course of a week, his tips were 1.5x more than delivery pay.

Drivers always see the base pay amount and any promotions before they accept the order. Some drivers get picky with those amounts and only select ones that meet a certain pay threshold. Their thinking is that hitting a certain pay amount will make the delivery “worth it.”

How Are Doordash Drivers Paid?

DoorDash drivers are paid weekly through direct deposit. This is a free and automatic payment service. However, if you want to be paid more often, drivers have two options:

• Fast Pay: For a fee of $1.99 per transaction, you can use Fast Pay, and DoorDash will immediately transfer your earnings to your bank account.
• DasherDirect: This is a free prepaid Visa business debit card available to Dashers, and DoorDash automatically transfers pay from each delivery to your DasherDirect card if you’ve signed up for it.

You can use your DasherDirect card like any other credit or debit card. But you can also transfer the balance to a bank account for free. Transfers take 1-2 business days to see the money hit your account, and there’s a $2,000/day transfer limit and a monthly limit of $5,000 with no more than 30 transfers per month.

How To Get Started With Doordash

Becoming a DoorDash driver is an incredibly simple process overall. There are requirements that all DoorDash drivers must meet, but beyond that, you are simply signing up to drive — there’s no interview or anything like that.

Click here to begin the sign-up process.

The requirements are nearly identical to other services like Instacart and Shipt.

DoorDash asks that you fill out a short application that asks for your zip code, name, date of birth, driver’s license information, email address, and vehicle type.

Once you’ve filled out the application to sign up, DoorDash will review your information and approve you in 3-5 days on average. They notify you via email or in the DoorDash app.

How To Make the Most Money With Doordash (Tips From Real Drivers!)

After asking real drivers how much you can make with DoorDash, we also asked for tips, hacks, and advice for new drivers. They’ve given us some excellent advice that we’re sharing below:

1. Take advantage of incentives and promotions. With Peak Pay and Challenges you have a couple of opportunities to increase your driver pay. These are during the busiest times or when there aren’t enough drivers to fulfill every order.
2. Accept more than one order at a time. Brand new drivers might want to get a few orders under their belt before trying this hack, but batched orders help you optimize your time.
3. Make yourself available during peak hours. Being available during the busiest times is huge, and the busiest times for DoorDash are during the afternoon lunch rush, dinner hours, late hours on Friday and Saturday nights, major sporting events, big televised events, and holidays. This varies based on location, so test things out to find the best hours in your area.
4. Avoid small orders. Bigger orders = larger tips and base pay. But declining all small orders means you might be missing out on DoorDash jobs and pay all together.
5. Fit deliveries into your schedule. Every successful driver we spoke to said that you have to make it part of your daily routine. You can take a delivery or two on your way home from work, after a dinner with your spouse, before picking your kids up from school, and so on.
6. Track your mileage from the beginning. At tax time, you can take a mileage deduction to account for gas and the wear and tear on your car. To get the most, you need to take an accurate deduction. We recommend using an app like Everlance to start tracking.

How Much Can You Make With Doordash & Is Doordash Worth It?

DoorDash drivers are paid for each order they complete and keep 100% of their tips. Pay varies by order, so it’s very difficult to say exactly how much you will make per hour on average. Whether or not that’s worth it to you is entirely personal. It really depends on your goals.

If you have a car and want a flexible and low-commitment side hustle, DoorDash pays well compared to alternatives like online surveys or online tutoring. For many people, DoorDash is very worth the time!

DoorDash Disclaimer: Actual earnings may differ and depend on factors like number of deliveries completed, time of day, location, and expenses. Hourly pay is calculated using average Dasher payouts while on a delivery (from the time you accept an order until the time you drop it off) over a 90 day period and includes compensation from peak pay, tips, and other incentives.

• Earning more on certain types of orders (ex. alcohol): Earn more per order as compared to restaurant orders. Actual earnings may differ and depend on factors like number of deliveries you accept and complete, time of day, location, and any costs. Hourly pay is calculated using average Dasher payouts while on a delivery (from the time you accept an order until the time you drop it off) over a 90-day period and includes compensation from tips, peak pay, and other incentives.
• Get paid instantly (DasherDirect): Subject to approval
• Cash out daily (Fast Pay): Fees apply
• Start dashing today: Subject to background check and availability
• Dash anytime: Subject to availability