PITTSBURGH, Feb. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The gig mobility industry is facing new challenges in 2025, as consumer prices continue to rise while consumers push back against fare increases. At the same time, driver wages are stagnating, with utilization rates struggling to increase, leading to greater reliance on tipping as a key driver of earnings as platforms seek profitability.
These dynamics are creating challenges for platforms, drivers, merchants, and consumers alike. However, amid these headwinds, opportunities are emerging for gig platforms and industry participants to leverage data to optimize efficiency and improve earnings across the ecosystem. These key findings come from Gridwise Analytics’ Annual Gig Mobility Report 2025—the most comprehensive analysis of gig mobility trends in the U.S., powered by a dataset of over 720 million trips and $8.3 billion in driver earnings.
The gig economy remains a critical pillar of urban mobility and last-mile logistics. This report highlights shifts in driver earnings, work habits, and consumer sentiment, illustrating a changing marketplace where adaptability is key.
Key Takeaways from the Report
The report captures shifting dynamics across rideshare and delivery platforms, detailing how driver earnings, consumer behavior, and platform competition are shaping the future of the gig economy.
Among the findings:
- Drivers Are Working More, Earning Less: Uber and Lyft drivers saw hourly earnings decline, with Uber drivers making 4% less per hour ($23.33) and Lyft drivers down 6% ($23.23 per hour).
- Rideshare Prices Are Rising—But Consumers Are Pushing Back: Median rideshare prices increased 7.2% in 2024, bringing the median fare to $15.99. However, 72.3% of surveyed riders say they will reduce or stop using rideshare if prices rise again, signaling a potential demand slowdown.
- Delivery Drivers’ Hourly Earnings Decline Across Major Platforms: Food and grocery delivery drivers also experienced a decline in hourly earnings across most major platforms. Uber Eats drivers saw a 5% drop in hourly pay to $14.96, DoorDash drivers’ hourly earnings fell by 3% to $12.23, and Grubhub and Gopuff also reported declines. However, Favor was the exception, with hourly earnings increasing by 10% to $11.97, indicating improved efficiency in delivery assignments.
- Tipping Dominates Food and Grocery Delivery Earnings: Food and grocery delivery drivers rely heavily on tips, with 53.4% of food delivery earnings and 45.7% of grocery delivery earnings coming from tips. In contrast, rideshare drivers earn only 10.4% of their income from tips, highlighting a stark difference in compensation structures across gig platforms.
- Retail Delivery Surges—DoorDash Up 34.1%, Uber Eats Up 46.6%: Retail is becoming a larger part of on-demand delivery with DoorDash’s retail delivery volume increasing by 34.1% in 2024 and Uber Eats growing even faster at 46.6%. Retail delivery is also capturing a larger share of total deliveries—on DoorDash, retail deliveries grew from 7.2% to 8.4% of total volume, while Uber Eats saw an even bigger shift, rising from 9.0% to 11.3%.
- Macy’s Retail Deliveries
Skyrocket 4,500% in 2024: Macy’s retail delivery volume grew by 4,500% in 2024, highlighting rising demand for same-day and on-demand retail fulfillment, presenting a strong opportunity for retailers to drive revenue through third-party delivery services.
The Future of Gig Work
The gig mobility space is at a critical crossroads. Drivers are seeing shrinking wages and an increasing reliance on tips, particularly in food and grocery delivery. At the same time, gig platforms are striving for profitability, in part by increasing consumer prices, but there are clear signs of consumer fatigue as riders and diners push back against further price hikes.
Despite these challenges, the outlook for gig mobility remains strong. New earnings models, better incentives, and greater efficiency can help platforms adapt, but data will be key to understanding industry shifts. Gig platforms, retailers, and investors must harness data to drive smarter decision-making and improve efficiency.
“2025 is a pivotal year for the gig mobility space,” said Ryan Green, CEO at Gridwise. “Drivers are looking to maximize earnings per hour. Meanwhile, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of pricing dynamics, putting pressure on platforms to find efficiencies. It will be interesting to see how gig platforms leverage data to minimize driver downtime and improve marketplace efficiency—ensuring that consumers aren’t forced to pay more while drivers still earn more over time.”
The impact of these shifts extends beyond drivers and platforms. Financial services firms, autonomous vehicle fleets, mass delivery firms, municipalities, QSRs and even retailers that transact on these platforms must pay close attention to these evolving dynamics.
To download the full Gridwise Analytics Annual Gig Mobility Report 2025, visit the Gridwise Analytics website.
Methodology
This analysis is powered by Gridwise’s extensive anonymized gig mobility data, encompassing over 720 million trips and $8.3 billion in driver earnings. For 2024, the insights are backed by over 171 million trips and $1.9 billion in gig driver earnings. To further enrich consumer perspectives, a Pollfish survey of 1,000 gig service customers was conducted in January 2025.
SOURCE Gridwise
