How Much Do NYC Yellow Taxi Drivers Make?

Short answer: TLC said in March 2026 that full-time yellow taxi drivers currently gross a median of about $60 an hour, up from about $50 in 2019 (TLC testimony, March 17, 2026). Averaged over all drivers, including part-timers, the farebox per driver was $48,698 in 2024 (OFS Annual Report 2024). Both are gross numbers: the lease or car costs, gas and taxes still come out.

The numbers and their sources

In the same testimony TLC said: "Earnings after expenses are unique to each driver but expenses sharply reduce take-home pay." It also noted taxi trips rose 16% from 2024 to 2025 but had recovered only 57% of 2019's level.

What these numbers do and don't mean

• The $48,698 is the OFS calculation of "fare amount + tips + extra," where extra means the rush hour and overnight surcharges "which go directly to the driver," divided over all drivers. It counts card tips (cash tips are not in the records), and it mixes full-time and occasional drivers, so a full-time driver's farebox is likely higher and a part-timer's lower. It is not net income.
• The $60 an hour is a median for full-time drivers before expenses. TLC did not publish how it measured hours.
• Drivers don't keep everything they collect. Under rule §58-21, owners keep the MTA tax and Taxi Improvement Fund surcharge, and tolls when the owner's E-ZPass is used (driver bill of rights).

The main costs: leases

If you lease, the lease is your biggest cost. TLC caps what owners can charge (§58-21):

Night shifts on other days and hybrid taxis have slightly different caps; see the rule. A driver who works six day shifts on a weekly lease pays up to $630 before gas. If you drive a wheelchair accessible taxi whose owner gets TIF payments, your medallion-only lease includes a $77 a week credit — see WAV driver pay. Card fees: how much an owner can charge for credit cards.

What a shift looks like in the data

In 2025, the average yellow taxi on the road did about 15 trips a day (trips per taxi per day), and yellow drivers recorded trips in 7.5 hours a day on about 23 days a month (TLC Industry Indicators). In TLC trip records for September 2025 – August 2026, the median yellow meter fare was $15.60 and card riders tipped about 21.5% of the fare (tip data, fare per trip). We do not multiply these into an "income" — trip counts, fares and hours vary too much between drivers.

What to do next

Compare with app driving: Uber and Lyft driver earnings, how much Uber drivers make and taxi vs Uber fares. Market size: active drivers and taxi and Uber trip statistics. Owners: what a medallion is. More in the money hub.