1. Subtract the car
Every mile you drive while working costs money, including the miles between orders. Car cost is those miles times your cost per mile.
What do you really make an hour?
The apps show what they paid. This shows what you keep after gas, wear and taxes, for a week, a shift or a single order. Built for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart drivers.
What are you checking?
Add this to see how much of your driving went unpaid.
Car cost per mile
The IRS rate reflects the full average cost of running a car: gas, repairs, tires, insurance and depreciation. Choose your own cost if you only want to count gas and upkeep.
Federal tax bracket
Your real hourly pay
$9.76/hr
What the apps paid$900.00
Car cost600 mi × 76.0¢−$456.00
Federal tax to set aside23.1% of $444.00 after the $456.00 mileage deduction−$102.35
Real pay$341.65
You keep38%
Real pay per mile$0.57
Estimate only, not tax advice. The tax set-aside is federal self-employment and income tax on each extra dollar of profit at your bracket, after the mileage deduction, so it runs slightly high if your standard deduction still covers part of your income. State tax is not included.
How real pay is calculated.
Three numbers turn what the apps paid into what you keep. The same formula runs inside the MileShield app for every shift you track.
2. Subtract the tax
Nobody withholds tax from gig pay. The set-aside is federal self-employment and income tax on your profit after the mileage deduction, which shrinks it a lot.
3. Divide by your time
Count every hour you were working, not only time on a trip. Waiting and driving between orders are part of the job, and the apps don't pay for them.
Driver pay, answered.
How do I calculate my real hourly pay as a gig driver?
Start with what the apps paid you, including tips. Subtract your car cost (miles driven times your cost per mile), then subtract the federal tax to set aside on that income. Divide what is left by the hours you worked, including time waiting and driving between orders.
What cost per mile should I use?
The IRS standard mileage rate, 76 cents per mile for business miles driven from July 2026, reflects the full average cost of running a car: gas, repairs, tires, insurance and depreciation. It is a conservative default. If you would own and insure the car anyway, you may prefer to count only gas and upkeep, which gives a lower cost per mile. Use whichever matches how you think about your car.
How much should gig drivers set aside for federal taxes?
On each extra dollar of profit after the mileage deduction, a self-employed driver owes about 14.1% in self-employment tax plus income tax at their bracket, reduced by the deductible half of self-employment tax and the 20% qualified business income deduction. That is roughly 23% at the 12% bracket and 30% at the 22% bracket. State income tax is extra.
How do I know if an order is worth taking?
Switch the calculator to One order and enter the payout, the minutes from accepting to drop-off, and the total miles including the drive to pickup. If the real pay per hour is below what you want to earn, or the real pay per mile is negative, the order costs more than it pays.
What are unpaid miles?
Miles you drive while working that no app pays for: driving to a pickup before the order starts counting, repositioning between orders, and returning from a far drop-off. They still count as business miles for your mileage deduction if you log them.
Related: the standard mileage vs. actual expenses calculator and our guide to deadhead miles.