Uber & Lyft Driver Pay by Hour of Day in NYC (Trip Data)

In short: in TLC trip records for September 2025 to August 2026, the hours that paid NYC Uber and Lyft drivers the most per trip were the early morning (on weekdays, $23.63 at 5am and $23.49 at 4am, before tips) and the weekday mid-afternoon ($23.52 at 3pm). The lowest were 1am–2am on weekdays (under $19) and 9am–10am on weekends. Pay per hour with a passenger was highest at 4am ($77.19 on weekdays) and lowest around 4pm ($58.54). These are averages for trips, not what a driver earns per hour of work.

This page shows pay. When riders want trips is on busiest hours for Uber, Lyft and taxis. The two don't line up: the busiest hours are not the best paid.

The numbers at a glance

Pay per trip, by hour of pickup

Per-trip pay follows trip length. On weekdays, the average trip starting at 4am was 7.25 miles, and 30% of those trips went to or from an airport. Trips starting at 8am averaged 4.22 miles. Late-night weekday trips (1am–2am) were about 5.3 miles but quick, so they paid less. On weekends the pattern shifts: per-trip pay is lowest in the late morning (about $18.78 at 9am) and stays near $20–$22 through the evening and night.

Pay per engaged hour

"Engaged" means a passenger is in your car. This measure divides total pay by total passenger time for trips starting in each hour.

Pay per engaged hour is lowest in the afternoon and evening rush, when trips are slowest. TLC's minimum pays for both miles and minutes, so a minute stuck in traffic earns less than a minute moving at speed.

At 4pm the average weekday trip moved at about 11 mph; at 4am, about 24 mph.

Month by month

Across the 12 months, pay per engaged hour stayed between $62.40 and $65.12 without tips, and rose slightly after the March 1, 2026 rate increase. Tips added about $3.70–$4.00 per engaged hour.

Demand and pay together

The hours with the most trips (8am and 5pm–7pm on weekdays, Friday and Saturday evenings) are mid-range for pay per trip and below average for pay per engaged hour. The hours with the fewest trips (3am–5am) pay the most per trip and per engaged hour, but riders there also wait longest for a car, which suggests fewer drivers and fewer requests. See rideshare wait times.

Reading this as a driver

Two questions decide whether an hour is good for you: how much each trip pays (this page) and how long you wait between trips (not in trip records). A higher average per trip at 4am does not help if you sit for 20 minutes between requests. A lower per-trip average at 6pm may still fill your hour. Your own app history over a few weeks is the only way to see both for the places you drive.

What the data can't tell you

• Waiting time and empty miles. Trip records only cover time with a passenger. At 4am you may wait a long time between trips.
• Your costs. Gas, insurance, car payments and tolls on empty trips are not in these numbers.
• Where you are. These are citywide averages. Pay also differs by zone: each zone page shows that zone's median pay per trip, though not by hour.
• Limits on hours. You may carry passengers for at most 10 hours in 24 and 60 hours in a week, and apps must not lock you out without notice. See how many hours can I drive? and app lockouts.

Uber and Lyft are compared on does Uber or Lyft pay more?. For what the rider paid on these trips, see what riders pay vs what drivers get. For the official TLC-wide figures, see the TLC trip data page.