Is DoorDash a Good Side Hustle in 2023?

More and more people are looking for that extra flexible side hustle to make that much-needed extra cash. Therefore, if you are one of those people, then DoorDash certainly came through your head, but you were just too unfamiliar to actually take action.

DoorDash is a food delivery service that provides you with on-time delivery of any type of food you choose to order such as fast food, restaurant food, or even groceries.

Luckily, we are here to make things as simple as possible and make it easier for you to determine if DoorDash is actually a good side hustle.

Is DoorDash Actually Worth It?

Yes, absolutely. However, there are some things you must consider.

Seeing as many of you want to start working on a side hustle, we took a deep dive and went through every piece of information thoroughly to determine if DoorDash is actually a good side hustle.

Firstly, we are going to start with potential earnings and according to DoorDash, you can earn $23 per hour on average.

But this particular aspect is pretty hard to determine. Why?

This can vary from the area you live in and the transportation vehicle you choose for deliveries. We also took to Reddit and found what a couple of DoorDash delivery workers had to say about it.

ideliver559 says: “Easy to make $800 to $1000 a week and only working 4 to 5 days (maybe) in my market. People are always talking negatively about the money their making however if they would learn the system and move to different markets that are busier than the area their in, they too could make more money. I’m sure not all areas are busy with DoorDash, and if that’s the situation, simply try another food delivery app. It’s not rocket science people.”

Bizeran says: “Like everyone else is saying. It depends on your market I set my goal at 1350 a week, 50 hours a week in my market. I never even get close to not meeting that goal in a given week. Granted, I use a mix of GrubHub and Doordash, but even before my GruHub application got through I was easily pulling 230-250 a day with just a ten-hour Doordash shift.”

Nfg91 added: “Depends on the area you’re in but there definitely seem to be a lot of shit orders floating around regardless of where you are. If you’re in the right area and you need to make a mortgage payment while you’re between jobs, you can do it”

SeaBiscuitandGravy said: “Not as your only source of income. At least gotta multi-app. Depends on where you live though. Around here it can be one crappy offer after the next but with UE running in the background I can get a $25 order for under $10 miles while I keep rejecting most of the crap DD sends.

Or UE is DEAD so I start a Dash and sometimes get a great offer which leads to another than another. I find it very unpredictable at times.

You have to be committed and patient and ok to just wait sometimes and other times always be in a hurry.

You have to be able to put up with TERRIBLE drivers which will always be my least favorite part of the job.

But you get flexibility. My stomach is f’ed up tonight so I decide to take the night off. I get to take a vacation on my terms. I meet some interesting people, get to see interesting restaurants and homes and discover new parts of town I never knew existed.

Sometimes you get great tips and you can make some decent money if there’s a good market for food delivery where you live but you have to factor the in the price of gas which you will need a lot of and wear and tear on your car which can get super expensive over time and the safety risk of driving so much in all kinds of conditions.”

If you choose a car, you must determine the fuel cost and vehicle depreciation, but in the end, you will definitely manage to deliver more orders than a delivery worker who chooses a bicycle for instance.

We found some independent DoorDash reviews on Indeed and they say that the average DoorDash delivery worker makes between $13 and $18 per hour.

Luckily for you, DoorDash just recently put a brand new paying formula out there.

The formula consists of: Base Pay + Promotions + Tips = Total Earnings

1.      Base Pay

Base pay is something that DoorDash guarantees to their workers and it goes from $2 to $10+ depending on the job aspects such as order distance and desirability.

2.      Promotions

Currently, there are three types of promotions that affect the amount you can earn while working for DoorDash.

• Peak Pay is a bonus you can earn while delivering on time during busy delivery windows.
• Challenges are DoorDash’s new form of promotions in order to try and motivate drivers to work more. One Challenge example is to deliver XX number of deliveries in a XX time period, if you manage to complete the challenge you will get a bonus.
• DoorDash Drive is the final form of promotion. To become a DoorDash Driver you need to have at least 100 deliveries with a 4.8 overall customer rating and a 90% completion rate.

Door Dash Drivers deliver large catering orders that need special care and that type of order gets paid significantly more than regular ones.

3.      Tips

Everybody’s favorite part is TIPS!

As you might already expect, all the tips you get are totally yours and they will not impact your earnings from the above categories.

Recommended: 10 Best Apps Like DoorDash to Make Money

How Much Can You Actually Make With Doordash

On average you can expect $20-25 an hour before taxes but what their drivers say:

“$35-$40 hr lately. Some nice unicorns popping up, and adding Panera was great (there are two in my area). I’m generally good for $1,000-$1,200 per week from 7AM until 1:30/2-ish. This is between DD, GH, UE.”

“Lately, I found this place that was amazing for a little while. Aside from that outlier, about $18/hr. That’s lower than most, but I choose to deliver in a lower-stress area (less apartments and good parking near most restaurants). I also often deliver at slower times. Sometimes, I’ll make $30/hr during lunch or dinner but then make a lot less other times. I have a Prius though, so at least the gas cost is low.”

“About 900–1000 per week. I work everyday but I’m still not a hustler though. If I was a machine like some people on here I’d do about 1400-1600 per week.”

Check out: How to Make $500 a Week with DoorDash

Final Words

All of this brings us to the very top of this article, is DoorDash actually worth it?

Our answer is YES!

With DoorDash you can make extra money while managing your time the best way you can and the best thing about it is that DoorDash doesn’t deactivate inactive delivery workers.

This means you can literally work whenever you feel comfortable without worrying about getting laid off.