DoorDash Dasher
- Best for: Drivers in busy delivery markets who want short shifts on their own schedule
- What Sets It Apart: Pay per offer or, in select cities, a guaranteed hourly rate for time on deliveries
- Earnings: Base pay $2 to $10+ per offer, plus promotions and 100% of tips; Earn by Time’s hourly rate in select cities; pay floors in California, New York City, and Seattle
- Payouts: Weekly direct deposit; Fast Pay daily for $1.99; free instant pay after every dash with DoorDash Crimson
- Features: 7,000+ U.S. cities; car, motorcycle, scooter, or bike, by market; go online anytime in most areas; auto liability coverage up to $1 million on deliveries
- Cost: Your own gas, car upkeep, auto insurance, and smartphone; self-employment tax, none withheld
- Eligibility: Age 18 or older (19 in 13 states, 21 for new California applicants); a license and auto insurance to dash by car; a Social Security number for the background check
- Pros: Guaranteed pay and distance shown before you accept; no minimum share of offers to accept; go online anytime in most areas
- Cons: Unpaid waiting outside New York City; offers depend on demand; declining lowers your offer priority; New York settlements over shorted pay
Deliver for DoorDash if you want short shifts on your own schedule in a busy delivery market, and turn down any offer whose pay barely covers what its miles cost you. DoorDash requires no minimum share of accepted offers, so declining one won’t get you deactivated.
Dashers deliver as independent contractors, so each offer’s pay has to cover car costs of about 76 cents a mile, the IRS’s business rate, plus self-employment tax of about 14% of the profit. Then divide what’s left by every hour you’re logged in, waiting included, for your real hourly pay.
Key Features
- Base pay of $2 to $10+ per offer, plus promotions such as Peak Pay and 100% of tips
- Earn by Time in select U.S. cities, paying a guaranteed hourly rate for time on deliveries, plus tips, with one decline allowed an hour
- Weekly direct deposit, Fast Pay once a day for $1.99, or free instant pay after every dash with a DoorDash Crimson account
- Age 18 or older (19 in 13 states, 21 for new California applicants), a smartphone, and a car you’re licensed and insured to drive, or a bike, scooter, or motorcycle where allowed
- Pay floors in California (120% of local minimum wage plus 37 cents a mile driven, counted only on deliveries), New York City ($22.13 an hour before tips), and Seattle (at least $5.34 an offer)
Pros
- Earn per Offer shows each offer’s guaranteed pay and distance before you accept
- No minimum share of offers you must accept, so you can decline any that don’t cover what their miles cost
- Go online anytime in most of the U.S.
Cons
- Unpaid waiting between offers, outside New York City
- No guaranteed number of offers, since they depend on demand
- Declining lowers the share of offers you accept, which counts toward your priority for new offers
- Settled two New York cases over shorted Dasher pay, for $16.75 million with the state attorney general in 2025 and $131.5 million with New York City in 2026
Dashing is worth it for drivers in busy zones who can fill short shifts with offers that pay well beyond what their miles cost. Package delivery blocks fit drivers who want a shift’s pay known in advance, and grocery shopping gigs fit drivers who know their local stores.
Learn more about DoorDash or see how it compares to the best delivery apps to work for.
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Advertiser Disclosure: Many or all of the offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us, and some companies pay for sponsored content. That compensation may influence which products we cover and where and how they appear on a page, including the order in which they appear. We do not include every company or offer available in the marketplace.
