Uber & Lyft Minimum Pay Estimator (NYC 2026)

In short: For every trip that Uber or Lyft dispatches in NYC, TLC rule 59D-22 sets a minimum driver payment: the trip's miles with a passenger times a per-mile rate, plus its minutes with a passenger times a per-minute rate. Since March 1, 2026 that is $1.283 a mile plus $0.681 a minute for a standard car. Enter one trip from your pay statement and the tool shows the minimum. Add what you were paid and it tells you whether the trip was paid above or below it.

How to use it

1. Open the trip in your app's earnings or pay statement. Find the trip distance and trip time (with the passenger).
2. Enter the miles and minutes. If the trip started in NYC and ended outside it, switch on the out-of-town option and split the miles and minutes into "inside NYC" and "outside NYC".
3. Switch on WAV if the trip was in your wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
4. Optional: enter what the app paid you for the trip before tips. The tool shows the gap.

How the numbers are calculated, with sources

The rates are TLC's published figures, copied into the site's rate file on October 12, 2026:

• Where they come from. TLC's Driver Pay Rates page and Industry Notice #26-03 list them. The notice says they are "including the utilization rate", so you do not divide or adjust anything. (The rule text shows smaller base numbers before utilization. Don't use those.)
• Why they change. Rule 59D-22(a)(4) adjusts them every March 1 by the yearly change in the CPI-W price index. The 2026 increase was 3.36%. See the minimum pay rate history.
• Out of town. The out-of-town rates apply only to the miles and minutes outside NYC, on trips that begin in the city. The miles inside NYC still use the standard rates. More in out-of-town pay rates.
• Tips and tolls are separate. The formula counts miles and minutes only. Rule 59D-17 requires the company to pass on the whole tip and the whole toll you paid on a dispatched trip. In TLC's trip records, driver_pay excludes tips and tolls. Read do tips count toward the minimum.

Worked examples

If your statement shows less than the minimum for a trip, write down the trip ID, date, miles and minutes the same day.

If a trip was underpaid

Limits: what this tool can't tell you

• It checks one trip. It is not your weekly or hourly pay. Waiting time and driving to the pickup are not paid under this formula. Learn how that works in what utilization means for your pay.
• It uses the numbers you type. If the trip miles or minutes on your statement are wrong, the result will be too.
• Companies may pay more than the minimum. The tool does not know bonuses, promotions or deductions.
• It covers trips dispatched by high-volume services (currently Uber and Lyft). It does not apply to taxis, green cabs or black car and livery bases.
• It is an estimate and general information, not legal advice.

How pay works overall is in FHV driver minimum pay and rider fare vs driver pay. For what app trips actually pay by hour of the day, see Uber and Lyft pay by hour. Sick pay is separate: see paid sick leave for app drivers.