<prompt> Human: Before reading, understand that this is an exercise in averages. Many people in the comments have shown how Uber driving can work, especially those that mention driving optimal cars and making use of tax deduction. My post explores only the averages of car, distance, and earnings, and is NOT meant to say that an uber driver is automatically stuck with a sub-minimum wage job - just that they will be if they dont manage themselves properly.---TL;DR: At 0.56 a mile to own and operate a vehicle, an Uber driver making average hourly wage driving on average the same distance as a taxi driver will be left with 5.60 an hour after driving-related expenses. A driver making 8.40, driving the same distance, would have to put all of that money back into their vehicle to continue driving.---Everywhere I look, I see more and more people making Uber driving a part of their life, whether they do it on the side or made it their full time job to drive 56 hours every week. From the outset, I imagined the whole thing was not much but a money sink, and with the post on the front page classifying Uber Drivers as workers in the U.K. and the discussion within, I looked up the statistics and found that driving for Uber doesnt even come close to netting minimum wage in the long term.My reasoning for this is that, although Uber pays on average greater than minimum wage, the cost of maintaining a car while using it as a courier vehicle chips severely into the money you would actually make. Before I get any further, heres some relevant numbers and links to back them up. Average hourly pay: 14hr High end hourly pay: 30hr Cost of owningoperating a car: 9000yr, driving 15,000 miles Distance a taxi driver drives: 180m12hrs, or 15mhrBecause there are so many variables, Im making the following assumptions. The car being driven is being used ONLY for Uber driving which, when considering how this would play out over years, would even out with how often the car needed replaced. Other websites, including Uber itself, has attempted to calculate expenses based on toll costs and gasoline usage, but I am going to use the AAA numbers, that also factor in the price of actually buying a car and routine maintenance. All of this is expected if youre using your car long term more than you normally would. Lastly, Im going to assume for now that our Uber driver is making the expected 14hr, though Ill experiment with how these numbers affect other wage levels.Now lets assume our driver is driving the expected 15 miles every hour, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. In this full time position, they are driving 2496 hours and making 34,944. Now, we factor in expenses. The AAA numbers put yearly expenses at 9000 for 15,000 miles, but our Uber driver is going 37,440 miles 2496hrs15mhr. After some math 9,000x37,44015,000, expenses come out to 22,464.Yes. That cushy middle of the road salary, after just the expenses of paying for your cars expected maintenance, comes out to 12,480. A full 60 of that 14 wage is taken by your car, leaving you with 5.60 every hour you work. 8.40 is expected to go into car maintenance every hour, or every 15 miles - and there are drivers that might not even make that much. Also, if you dont live in the UK, you dont even get employee benefits, so Id keep that in mind.The picture is bleak for some, but better for others. In high-paying metro areas like New York, one can net 30 an hour, leaving them with a cushy 21.60 an hour after putting money aside to maintain their livelihood. Numbers like these are at least reasonable, but harder to come by and seem to have a casual, positive relationship with the cost of living in the area.My plea after this wall of math and text - dont expect to keep that giant wad of extra cash from casually driving on the weekends. These costs per mile, no matter how small, stack up and take their toll on the black ink in your balance book. If you think you can make a career out of Uber, great - but know that they arent looking after you when it comes to these long term costs. People can and do make a hefty sum of money driving for Uber, but ignoring the toll it takes down the road is dangerous. Drive smart and please at least make money.---I tried to base as much reasoning as possible off of distance driven, not hours, since the distance is ultimately what affects how long you can drive your car before you need new oil, new tires, or a new vehicle outright. Still, my method wasnt perfect, because I couldnt find how much an Uber driver makes on average per trip, along with average trip distance. I trust the AAA numbers, and Glassdoors salary numbers to a lesser degree, but there is great variety both in wages and how much a car costs per year or mile to operate. Maximizing wage working in peak timespeak places and minimizing expense getting better fuel economy, purchasing cars that cost less or last longer will net you much less bleak numbers than I project above.---EDIT: Since the AAA numbers were brought into question, I took a closer look. The costs for tires, gas, maintenance, and depreciation are all tied to mileage. However the costs for insurance a cool 2400 is not tied to mileage and can very well be factored into personal expenses, so it might not matter as much. A significant decrease, to be sure, but the costs of driving still cannot be ignored.As an additional edit, many have been saying that Uber covers your insurance, which would chunk off another 1000 of calculated expenses. According to this link I come to the understanding that Uber provides their insurance to you while you are available, but does NOT cover you when you are off duty eg. driving home or off the clock, meaning you would still need personal insurance. If someone can explain to me better how you can disregard insurance costs, I would greatly appreciate it.Edit: Id like to emphasize that if you do it right, you CAN make pretty solid profits. Here is an example from a user in the comments below, who manages to be above the curve in pay and below the curve in expenses. Itemize your expenses like he does, be aware that Uber driving adds expenses to your usual driving, and enjoy the perks that Uber does have.Assistant: Do you already have a vehicle? Do you have free time or do you need to be avaliable for other activities in short notice? Uber works as a fill in revenue stream.Human: Working around your schedule like this is exactly what Im arguing against - youd be incurring all the additional expenses, but with little ability to work in a lucrative area or drive during burst hours. Unfortunately, people who see Uber as this kind of service are the most likely to be given the short end of the stick. If you make less than 0.56 per mile you drive, youll lose money with the additional driving.  <response>: Not many of us work during bar break on Friday and Saturday night when uber is lit 