The most expensive average Uber ride in the country is in Seattle, where a 30-minute ride costs an average of $60, according to a study by NetCredit.
The price of Uber rides increased by approximately 7% nationwide last year. In addition to the rising prices, customers have cited the company’s surge-pricing method — a pricing practice that increases fares during periods of high demand and limited driver availability — as a reason to seek alternative transportation options.
“It’s making people miserable to not know what things cost,” Bilal Baydoun, director of policy and research at Groundwork Collaborative, told NetCredit. “We live in an age where budgeting is really essential to get by amid a really long-term affordability crisis in this country.”
NetCredit compiled the study by recording the average local price estimate of Uber in the 100 most populated cities in the U.S. before calculating the affordability of Uber in each city and state by grabbing the local average price of a 30-minute ride in each city and state as a percentage of the local average hourly wage, per the Bureau of Labor Database.
Fort Worth, Texas, and Indianapolis have the cheapest Uber rides, averaging $28.33 per 30-minute ride, which is half the cost of a 30-minute ride in Seattle. The other cities that round out the list of the top 10 cheapest Uber trips are Tucson, Mesa, Omaha, Miami, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, Houston, and Memphis.
A reason for affordability in Indianapolis is competition. inDrive, a rideshare app where the customer proposes a price, and it’s up to the driver to accept it or counter-bid, has been used throughout the city, giving people searching for a ride more options to find a better deal.
The 10 most expensive cities for an Uber ride are Cheyenne, Reno, New York, San Diego, Baton Rouge, Newark, Anchorage, San Jose, and Portland. Cheyenne, the second-most expensive city for Uber, is still $9, on average, cheaper per 30-minute ride than Seattle.
An Uber ride in Washington, as a state overall, costs 185.6% compared to the hourly median wage. Only Louisiana, Montana, Wyoming, Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, and West Virginia.