Uber and Lyft riders explain why they do and don't tip their drivers — who only get tips a quarter of the time

• Tipping habits among ride-hailing customers vary; some Uber and Lyft riders consistently tip 20%, while others rarely tip.
• A dozen Uber and Lyft riders share why they do and don't tip, citing rising prices and customer service.
• Gridwise data shows only 28% of ride-hailing trips get tips, compared to 87% for food delivery.

Valerie takes Lyft rides between two and six times a week for work — but she only sometimes leaves a tip.

Some ride-hailing drivers have been unprofessional, she told Business Insider. Others haven't greeted her or picked her up far from where she requested. Even when a driver provides decent service, she said the increasing fares for her commute have led her to tip less frequently.

"The over-charging, high prices, cancellation from drivers, and Lyft making me late for work didn't permit me to leave a tip for some," Valerie said.

Other riders have a different philosophy about tipping. Ron, a 76-year-old based in California, always leaves his ride-hailing driver a 20% tip unless they are a "complete jerk," he told BI.

He has prior work experience in the service industry and sometimes receives tips at his current job, which he said has shaped his perspective on tipping. He doesn't understand why people wouldn't tip their drivers.

"Rides are a service," he said. "Taxis have always been a tipped service, so why wouldn't people do the same for ride-hailing?"

The question of how often and how much one should tip for a service has often been a topic of debate. While tipping waitstaff at a sit-down restaurant, for example, has long been a common practice for many Americans, the rise of the gig economy in recent years has led to the formation of new tipping habits.

When it comes to ride-hailing, the battle over whether or not to tip is far from settled. BI spoke with a dozen rideshare passengers and drivers about their tipping practices, most of whom requested partial anonymity for privacy concerns. Many drivers say they provide a comparable service to waiters at a restaurant and that riders should tip accordingly. While some Americans agree, others told BI that poor service and expensive ride fares are among the top factors weighing down their tips.

Should Uber and Lyft drivers always get tips?

Rob Schlegel, a journalist turned real-estate agent in Las Vegas, tries to always tip his Uber or Lyft driver the highest suggested amount for each ride. However, sometimes, doing so is cumbersome and confusing.

Sometimes, he said the rating and tip pages get lost in the clutter of the Uber app's many advertisements. Other times, he's had drivers run red lights, have their cars smell like smoke, have trash everywhere, or have their seats so far reclined there isn't room for the passenger. At airports, he often gets frustrated by how long it takes to find his driver, which he knows isn't the driver's fault.

Still, he tries to tip for every ride because he believes the drivers deserve tips. He said he's had "mostly positive results with Uber," but "the apps are making bucks but killing the drivers and frustrating the riders."

The reasons people do or don't tip their Uber and Lyft drivers can be complicated.

Kellie Smith, who takes multiple Ubers a week and always tips, said she knows many people who tip less frequently than food delivery. She thinks it's as simple as food being an "enjoyable" expense, whereas paying for a ride to work is not.

"The demographic of people taking Ubers are people without vehicles anyway. They probably don't have money to spare," Smith said. "I have never had the same driver, so it's also tempting for people to not tip when the chances they will see that person again are low."

Carla Bevins, an associate professor of business management at Carnegie Mellon University, thinks food delivery drivers are more likely to get tips than ride-hailing drivers because tipping for food-related services has "long been a part of American culture," she previously told BI.

"In contrast, rideshare services, though equally valuable, do not have the same historical tipping expectation and are often viewed as more transactional," Bevins said. For both ride-hailing and food delivery, she said the digital tipping process via phone reduces the social pressure to tip.

Some drivers and passengers pointed fingers at the companies, noting that as ride prices increase, passengers may be less likely to leave an additional tip. Some also noted that the tipping interface for apps like DoorDash is easier to use — DoorDash has warned customers that if they don't tip, their food may take longer to arrive.

"The best perk of all was the affordability: You received better service, and the cost was economically affordable, so this meant that you could afford to tip and felt good about doing so," Lillian, a frequent rider with Lyft and Uber, said. "Nowadays, the drivers extend less effort with service but want us riders to reward their lackluster performance with a tip."

Lillian said her drivers rarely say hello, only occasionally help with luggage or opening doors, provide few amenities like water or games, and never ask for her music selection. Caroline, a rider in Washington who always tips 15%, said she's noticed the norm around airports is for drivers to not assist with bags, which she said could rub passengers the wrong way.

The perception of gig driver pay, driven by various factors such as media coverage, could also impact how much people tip, Bevins said. The more people think drivers are reliant on tips, the more generous they might be likely to be.

One driver, who goes by the name Dee Dee, said when she tells passengers how much she makes — sometimes 40% of what the customer pays — they are much more inclined to tip.

The stakes are high for Uber and Lyft drivers

Many drivers have told BI that it's become harder to make money in recent years — some say customer tipping is worse than it used to be. For many drivers who don't have a guaranteed minimum pay to fall back on, tips have become an important part of their ride-hailing incomes.

An analysis of over 500,000 US gig drivers provided to BI by Gridwise, a data-analytics company that helps drivers track their earnings, found that roughly 28% of Uber and Lyft ride-hailing trips get tips, compared to 87% of food-delivery trips and 74% of grocery trips. The analysis was based on US tipping data between January 1 and June 6.

Tips can be especially important for people who drive full-time and, therefore, are more reliant on their ride-hailing incomes. According to Gridwise data, roughly 30% of US Uber drivers drove at least 25 hours a week in the first quarter of 2024.

An Uber spokesperson said that across the US, drivers are "earning more than $30 an hour while engaged on the app." In a statement, Uber told BI that over the last four years, ride-hailing tipping frequency and the average tip size have both roughly doubled — adding that the average ride-hailing tip amount rose nearly 10% over the past six months.

In the second half of 2023, Lyft said the median US driver earned about $31 per hour of engaged time — when they were en route to pick up a passenger or had one in their vehicle. The company said these earnings included a median tip of $2.41 per engaged hour.

Carrie, a five-star rideshare driver since 2015, said she's driven in a handful of states but has never made above $30 an hour. A few weeks ago, she drove 90 trips and only got tipped for six of them, which was just $38.52. She said she's had drivers tell her they wish they could tip her but didn't have the funds at the moment.

"I am looking for a job because I can no longer survive as a rideshare driver," Carrie said. "It's also hard to get back into the corporate market when you have been a full-time rideshare driver."

Because of this, Bryan, an Uber driver in Hampton Roads, Virginia, said he doesn't rely on tips, considering it "in bad taste to expect anyone to shell out extras." Because most of his passengers are going to and from work, he views himself as somewhat of a public transit service.

Instead of expecting tips, he has an hourly quota he tries to hit through various strategies, such as being selective about taking longer rides that pay more.

"I was once a passenger struggling with a dead-end job, so much so that my weekly Uber bill defeated the purpose of going to work," Bryan said. "I sympathize with passengers because I have been on that side of the fence before."

Are you a gig driver who is struggling to make ends meet? Are you driving into your retirement years? Reach out to these reporters at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com or jzinkula@businessinsider.com.