Gig Driver Profit Calculator (Real Hourly Pay)

How it works

1. Vehicle cost = miles × cost per mile. The IRS standard mileage rate (76¢ per mile for July to December 2026; it was 72.5¢ for January to June) is built to cover fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance and depreciation, which makes it a fair all-in estimate of what a car costs to run even if you never claim it. Or enter your own figure.
2. Net profit = gross earnings − vehicle cost − other costs. Divided by hours and by miles, this is the number to compare with a W-2 job.
3. Taxes to set aside: self-employment tax is 15.3% of 92.35% of net profit (about 14.1% of profit), plus income tax at the rate you estimate. Both apply to profit, not to gross, which is why tracking miles matters.
4. After-tax profit per hour, and the annual projection at the number of weeks you drive.

On your tax return, self-employed drivers deduct vehicle costs either with the standard mileage rate or with actual expenses (fuel, repairs, insurance, depreciation, in proportion to business use), not both. If you use the standard rate here, the deduction equals the vehicle cost shown, so the taxable profit is the same as the profit on this page. The income tax figure ignores the standard deduction and credits, so it is a set-aside estimate, not a tax return.

Worked example

$1,200 a week in 40 hours and 800 miles: the car costs 800 × $0.76 = $608 and other costs are $25, leaving $567 of profit, which is $14.18 an hour and 71¢ a mile against the $30 an hour the app shows. Set aside $80 of self-employment tax and $68 of income tax at 12%, and you keep $419, or $10.47 an hour. Over 50 weeks that is $28,350 before tax and about $20,942 after.