Delivering for DoorDash Has Become a Sweet Hustle

Am I dreaming?

Photo by Nat on Unsplash

Don’t look now but for for the first time in its 11 year existence, DoorDash Inc. turned a yearly profit in 2024, and is continuing its money-making ways in 2025.

You would think that the company would turn that profit on the backs of immigrant labor, taking from the poor to enrich the stockholders and venture capitalists.

But from where I sit (on the seat of a pedal bike in New York City), it looks like the job is better than it ever was before — at least on a dollars per hour basis. Granted, we dashers can’t work anytime we want anymore and getting on the app so we can score job offers takes some concerted effort. That part sucks. But once you manage to get on (no easy task) during a busy time (lunch and dinnertime), $30/hour isn’t out of the realm of reason.

Whether it’s because all the moneyed people in New York returned after Labor Day — or because I hit my 8000th delivery and DoorDash upped my employee rating — the worm has turned since September first.

Here’s how compensation works for DoorDash’s army of delivery people in New York: The base pay is now $21.44/hour. But that figure is deceptive. We only get paid at that rate while we’re on a delivery. In between jobs while we wait for the phone to ping, is uncompensated time.