Comparing Uber and Lyft Fare Rates in 2016
Over the weekend, Uber cut prices in 80 cities and Lyft has reduced prices in a few cities over the last month. Uber gave price cuts to 80 of their cities (the total count in 2015 is 52 in total) and Lyft gave cuts to 3 of their own markets in the past month:
Which Service has Higher Fares, Uber or Lyft?
Well according to the data below, Uber has lower fares than many of Lyft’s cities. On average, they are 10% lower in the cities below. These values were calculated using the base cost, per mile and per minute rates.
Lyft Regular vs UberX
From looking at the fares alone, Lyft would be the better service to drive for because the fares are about 10% higher compared to UberX. In only 3 cities are Uber fares higher than Lyft, so Lyft would be the better choice.
Lyft Plus vs UberXL
From the fare data, UberXL is higher than Lyft Plus and you will earn more with UberXL if you primarily get XL requests. UberXL is on average 15% higher than Lyft Plus, mainly because base fares on UberXL is very high in some markets. Only 5 of the listed markets had Lyft Plus higher than Uber by about 20%, but most of the markets are in Uber’s favor.
Would I Make More Money?
My reasoning is that I rather drive less for more money, but note that I do not guarantee that I will be making more money with this tactic. I would be increasing my profitability, which I can summarize as fare dollars per mile driven. However, earnings per hour may drop if you switch to Lyft, but with rates much higher on Lyft, it’s hard to believe that you would be making less than on Uber.
However, this doesn’t take into account trips per hour and the difference in trip distance and time between the two services in any given market. I have seen some differences in my own data between trip length and time on Uber and Lyft. It also doesn’t account for amount of Surge on Uber or PT on Lyft.
Price Comparisons
Here is the price comparison for Uber and Lyft in the major markets (UberXL/Lyft Plus is further down):
- The below chart is for UberX vs Lyft Regular
- Fare difference is positive if Lyft is better or negative if Uber is higher. It is an average calculation comparing base fares, minute and mile separately.
- If your city is not listed, leave a comment below and I will be adding it in!
| UberX | Lyft | |||||||
| Base Fare | Minute | Mile | Base | Minute | Mile | Fare Diff | Lyft or Uber | |
| ‘Atlanta’ | $ 1.00 | $ 0.12 | $ 0.75 | $ 1.15 | $ 0.15 | $ 0.80 | 13% | Lyft |
| ‘Boston’ | $ 2.00 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.24 | $ 2.00 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.22 | -4% | Uber |
| ‘Chicago’ | $ 1.70 | $ 0.20 | $ 0.90 | $ 1.71 | $ 0.22 | $ 0.90 | 3% | Lyft |
| ‘Dallas-Fort Worth’ | $ 1.00 | $ 0.10 | $ 0.85 | $ – | $ 0.15 | $ 0.90 | 13% | Lyft |
| ‘Denver’ | $ 0.75 | $ 0.13 | $ 1.00 | $ 1.05 | $ 0.15 | $ 1.10 | 17% | Lyft |
| ‘Los Angeles’ | $ – | $ 0.15 | $ 0.90 | $ – | $ 0.20 | $ 0.95 | 10% | Lyft |
| ‘Miami’ | 0.95 | 0.13 | 0.85 | 1 | 0.15 | 0.9 | 8% | Lyft |
| ‘Nashville’ | $ 1.00 | $ 0.12 | $ 0.93 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.14 | $ 0.90 | 4% | Lyft |
| ‘New York City’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.40 | $ 2.15 | $ 3.00 | $ 0.40 | $ 2.15 | 0% | Lyft |
| ‘Philadelphia’ | $ 1.25 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.10 | $ 1.13 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.10 | -4% | Uber |
| ‘Portland’ | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.55 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.55 | 0% | Lyft |
| ‘San Diego’ | 0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 1.05 | 55% | Lyft |
| San Francisco | $ 2.00 | $ 0.22 | $ 1.15 | $ 2.20 | $ 0.26 | $ 1.30 | 12% | Lyft |
| ‘Seattle’ | $ 1.35 | $ 0.24 | $ 1.35 | $ 1.35 | $ 0.24 | $ 1.35 | 0% | Lyft |
| ‘Washington D.C.’ | $ 1.15 | $ 0.17 | $ 1.02 | $ 2.00 | $ 0.21 | $ 1.00 | 20% | Lyft |
Here is the comparison for UberXL and Lyft Plus:
- The below chart is for UberXL vs Lyft Plus
- Fare difference is positive if Lyft is better or negative if Uber is higher. It is an average calculation comparing base fares, minute and mile separately.
- If your city is not listed, leave a comment below and I will be adding it in!
| XL | Plus | |||||||
| Base Fare | Minute | Mile | Base | Minute | Mile | Average | Lyft or Uber | |
| ‘Atlanta’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.90 | $ 2.02 | $ 0.25 | $ 1.93 | -22% | Uber |
| ‘Boston’ | $ 3.50 | $ 0.35 | $ 2.45 | $ 3.00 | $ 0.38 | $ 2.03 | -10% | Uber |
| ‘Chicago’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.35 | $ 1.75 | $ 2.56 | $ 0.33 | $ 1.35 | -18% | Uber |
| ‘Dallas-Fort Worth’ | $ 2.50 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.35 | $ 1.35 | $ 0.25 | $ 1.65 | -16% | Uber |
| ‘Denver’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.85 | $ 1.69 | $ 0.25 | $ 2.11 | -28% | Uber |
| ‘Los Angeles’ | $ 1.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.55 | $ 1.20 | $ 0.32 | $ 1.65 | 10% | Lyft |
| ‘Miami’ | $ 2.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.95 | $ 1.50 | $ 0.23 | $ 1.35 | -36% | Uber |
| ‘Nashville’ | $ 4.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.80 | $ 1.69 | $ 0.27 | $ 1.65 | -52% | Uber |
| ‘New York City’ | $ 4.50 | $ 0.60 | $ 3.25 | $ 4.50 | $ 0.60 | $ 3.22 | 0% | Uber |
| ‘Philadelphia’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.25 | $ 2.00 | $ 1.69 | $ 0.27 | $ 1.65 | -30% | Uber |
| ‘Portland’ | $ 1.50 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.55 | $ 2.25 | $ 0.45 | $ 2.32 | 33% | Lyft |
| ‘San Diego’ | $ 2.00 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.20 | $ 3.15 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.88 | 35% | Lyft |
| San Francisco | $ 3.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 2.00 | $ 3.37 | $ 0.40 | $ 2.02 | 12% | Lyft |
| ‘Seattle’ | $ 3.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 2.75 | $ 2.02 | $ 0.36 | $ 2.02 | -23% | Uber |
| ‘Washington D.C.’ | $ 2.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 1.80 | $ 3.04 | $ 0.39 | $ 1.89 | 21% | Lyft |
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