It’s no secret that two people standing side by side can book the same Uber or Lyft ride and see two completely different prices. It is relatively less known what percentage of those rents goes to whom. And while there has been some back and forth about whether Uber actually claims fares are now half the price (a leading analyst say they do, Whereas Uber has strongly denied this), you may be even more surprised to learn how much of the bill may be devoted to insurance. More than 20%, it turns out.
A new study from a gig economy analytics firm grid wise (via The Carbivore) suggests that on average, 21% of the rent is paid by insurance alone. According to experts, this is true of Uber and Lyft, and in this case we’re only talking about rideshares; Delivery naturally has lower insurance costs because there are no passengers in the car.
For what it’s worth, per-ride insurance expenses at both Uber and Lyft have declined recently, by more than 5% nationwide for both companies between Q1 2025 and 2026 and far more in a specific region. The West—historically the priciest place in the country for rideshare insurance coverage—saw those costs decline 20.6% year-over-year due to California State Bill 371, which reduced required uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Elsewhere, unfortunately, things went in the wrong direction, with costs increasing by 15.8% in the southwest and 7% on the east coast, to name two standouts. The study also highlights how the increases will hit at-risk neighborhoods the most, such as Chicago’s 20 lowest-income ZIP codes, where coverage spending was 37.6%. High Compared to elsewhere in the metro area.
Gridwise reports how California lawmakers, in particular, hope their state’s cuts to required insurance will save everyone a little money. The problem, as the world keeps reminding us over and over again, is that capitalism doesn’t really work like that, and if you don’t actually force corporations to pass on the savings, they won’t do it. Consider how, despite a massive 20% decline in the West, consumer pricing rose 3.4% in the same time frame and, more worryingly, platform fees rose 29.1%.
This all follows a year in which car insurance across the country is expected to decline by about 6% on average through 2025. Whether you see any savings depends largely on where you live; Our Jersey-based readers suffered the most, as rates there increased by 20% last year.
