How Much Do Instacart Shoppers Make?

On average, Instacart shoppers earn between $15 and $25 per hour.

However, that figure requires context. There are two types of Instacart shoppers, whose rates are calculated in different ways:

• In-store shoppers: These are part-time Instacart employees who work scheduled shifts in stores (meaning they don’t deliver groceries to people’s houses). They make $15 per hour on average.
• Full-service shoppers: These are independent contractors who deliver groceries directly to customers. They’re paid on a per-order basis. Instacart guarantees at least $7–$10 per order; they claim this equates to a wage of about $25 per hour, but based on what we’ve heard from actual Instacart gig workers, the actual number is probably closer to $20 per hour.

We confirmed these numbers with Rachel Johnson, an experienced Oregon-based delivery driver who we interviewed when we produced our review of Instacart. In her area, a typical “batch” on Instacart—which she said might take an hour to collect and deliver—pays about $20 on average.

That said, these figures are all approximations. Exactly how much you earn will depend on a number of factors, such as where you live, how many hours you work per week, and how large the orders you deliver are. We’ll elaborate on this further along in this article.

Does Instacart have a minimum payment on each order?

Yes, as mentioned, Instacart pays a minimum of $7–$10 (depending on where you live) for normal full-service orders.

They pay a slightly lower minimum of $5 for “delivery-only” orders, where you, the shopper, just pick up a pre-made order after a store employee (or another Instacart in-store shopper) collects and packages them.

These minimum payments are separate from your tips. If a customer tips you, you’ll receive 100% of that on top of your guaranteed payment.

How and when do Instacart shoppers get paid?

Instacart shoppers receive weekly payments via direct deposit between Wednesday and Friday for the work they completed in the previous week. You’ll have to provide your bank details when you sign up so you can get paid.

Full-service shoppers have the option to receive near-immediate payments for a $0.50 service fee. This feature, Instant Cashout, lets you receive your batch earnings within minutes and your full earnings within 2 hours of completing your delivery.

How does Instacart’s pay compare to what you’ll make on other delivery apps?

Instacart is just one of the many delivery driver apps on the market. Its main competitors include Uber Eats, DoorDash, Shipt, and Grubhub.

Most of these apps pay about the same rates that Instacart does. We’ve surveyed quite a few gig workers who drive for grocery and food delivery apps, and all of them seem to pay in the range of $15–$20 per hour. (Grubhub pays somewhat less, as the company has lost quite a bit of market share since 2020 and there aren’t many high-paying gigs on the platform anymore, but that’s an exception.)

Note that the rates that gig apps pay often vary considerably from city to city and even neighborhood to neighborhood. To find out which apps pay the most in your region, you can ask experienced delivery drivers on online forums like r/deliverydrivers, r/InstacartShoppers, or r/grubhubdrivers. You can also just use the apps and test them out for yourself.

You can multi-app to make more money

It’s worth noting that many delivery gig workers “multi-app”—meaning they use multiple apps at the same time to maximize their earnings. On any given day, in any given neighborhood, one app might be paying more than its competitors.

There’s nothing wrong with installing two or three apps and using them in tandem, accepting orders from whichever happens to be more lucrative at any given moment. Doing so won’t get you banned from any of these platforms.

Unlike in-store shoppers, who earn a fixed hourly rate, full-service shoppers’ earnings are less predictable and often vary from order to order.

We’ve listed the three main factors that determine your pay as a full-service shopper below.

Batch pay

Batch pay is the base price of each delivery. It takes into account:

• How far you have to drive: The further away the customer is from the shop, the higher your batch pay will be.
• How long you need to shop: Unsurprisingly, orders that will send you running to multiple sections of a store (instead of concentrating on a single section, such as produce) will require more time to complete. Consequently, they’re also higher-paid.
• The market’s demand: If there are too few shoppers in your area to meet the demand at the moment, you may receive additional promotional offers, called “boosts,” for each delivery.
• The quantity and weight of the items: Your batch pay will scale with the number and weight of the items you’re picking up. If there are several heavy items in your order, “heavy pay,” a bonus that starts at $2, will be added to your batch pay.

Promotions

Promotions kick in when there’s a high customer demand in your area. They serve the same function as boosts, but are technically separate in that they don’t change your batch pay; instead, they’re added on top of it. (However, there are reports that Instacart isn’t perfectly consistent about this, and it’s possible that they do include promotions in batch pay in at least some regions.)

Instacart doesn’t explicitly state what constitutes “high customer demand.” That said, you’re more likely to see promotional offers during holidays or when there’s bad weather outside.

Tips

Customers can leave tips for you if they’re satisfied with your service. As mentioned earlier, Instacart lets you keep 100% of the tips you earn.

Tipping is optional, and you can’t count on it. However, the Instacart app reminds customers to tip after each delivery, and encourages them to increase their tips for deliveries made during bad weather. Moreover, if a customer indicates that they’ll tip you and then removes (zeroes out) their tip without explanation, Instacart will cover it up to $10. 2

When you deliver for Instacart, there will be a gap between how much you earn and how much money actually goes into your pocket, particularly if you’re a full-service shopper.

That’s because full-service shoppers, who constitute the majority of Instacart’s gig workers, are technically classified as independent contractors, not employees. That means that you’ll be responsible for most of your own expenses, which can be substantial.

The main expenses that go into delivering for Instacart are:

• Fuel: You need to pay for your own gas when you make deliveries. Instacart won’t reimburse you for it. Fuel expenses will probably take up around 10% of your earnings, although the exact percentage will depend on the current price of gas and how fuel-efficient your vehicle is. For obvious reasons, if you drive a hybrid or a scooter (which Instacart allows in some cities, although not all), you’ll spend less than if you drive a large truck.
• Maintenance: It’s important to schedule regular checkups for your vehicle to keep it in good condition. You should set aside another 10% of your earnings for vehicle maintenance.
• Taxes: As contractors, full-service shoppers need to report and pay their taxes on their own. You can use this self-employment tax calculator to get an idea of what your taxes will amount to. Typically, you’ll need to pay at least 15% of your earnings.
• Other costs: You’ll have a couple of additional expenses, such as parking fees. These generally won’t be too onerous; they’ll probably total under 1% of your earnings.

All told, you should budget at least 35% of gross profit to cover your overhead expenses. This will leave you with just 65% of what you originally made.

Put another way, this means that if you’re able to earn $25 per hour from your Instacart gig (on the high end of what they claim you can make), your effective pay will be more like $16.25 per hour. If your average hourly earnings are $20, you’ll actually pocket $13, and so on.

Although these expenses may seem like a lot, it’s worth noting that virtually all delivery driving gigs are the same in this respect. When you factor in everything, courier work like this pays about what you can earn from most entry-level jobs (e.g., retail work). Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether delivering for Instacart is worth it at that rate or if you’d prefer a different side hustle.

To make your hours delivering for Instacart more worthwhile, try making these small but useful adjustments to your work to boost your earnings:

• Choose the right hours: Again, working during periods when customer demand spikes (often during weekends or holidays) can lead to earning more. You can check which times of the day usually see higher customer demand in the Instacart app (navigate to the “peak earning times” page).
• Develop efficient shopping strategies: Familiarize yourself with the layouts of the stores you often shop at. The faster you can collect items, the more orders you can get through in each shift, and the more you’ll earn.
• Deliver heavy items: If you’re physically able, prioritize orders with large items to get “heavy pay” bonuses. This may also lead to (sometimes) getting better tips from customers who are grateful to you for saving them the trouble of lugging their heavy purchases on their own.
• Offer excellent customer service: In general, the number of tips you’ll receive will correlate with the quality of your service, although not perfectly (unfortunately, some people just never tip). Do what you can to complete your deliveries promptly, follow any special instructions you receive, and communicate proactively with your customers if there are any issues.

How to earn more through Instacart referrals

You can also make extra money by referring new gig workers to Instacart. You can generate a unique referral code in the app; if you send it to someone and they sign up as a driver, you’ll receive a cash bonus when they complete a certain number of orders within a certain timeframe. This bonus is variable, but it’s possible to get hundreds of dollars for referring someone.

All in all, while the pay on Instacart probably won’t be enough to cover all of your living expenses, it can definitely supplement your income. Moreover, as you become more experienced, you’ll learn how to work more efficiently and increase your effective hourly rate.