Trending Topics

Report shows NYC Uber drivers earn more than EMTs

A report from the ride-share company reveals that drivers working 32 hours a week make around $13,500 more annually than first-year EMTs

FDNY_ambulance.jpg

Photo/FDNY

By Bill Carey
EMS1

NEW YORK — New York City Uber drivers working 32 hours weekly for 50 weeks earned an average of $52,900, far exceeding the $39,386 base salary of first-year city EMTs, according to an October report from the ride-share company.

EMTs spend hundreds of hours learning life-saving skills but must work five years to reach a maximum base salary of $59,534, plus benefits, the New York Post reported.


Paramedics: don’t settle for a living wage. Instead, be audacious and demand a thriving wage for your lifesaving career of community service

“I have friends who have left this job to do Instacart, to do Uber, to do Lyft,” Local 2507 President Oren Barzilay said. The union represents the city’s 4,100 EMTs and paramedics.

Uber drivers, whose pay is regulated by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, have received five raises since 2020, including a 3.49% inflation-based increase in March.

City EMS workers have been without a contract for over two years. Barzilay says they seek “pay parity” with other uniformed services, a promise Mayor Eric Adams made in 2021 but has yet to fulfill.


Tracking the state of EMS through research, and uncovering strategies to elevate paramedic safety, wellness, career development and operations
Trending
At least 1,450 people have died, more than 3,100 have been injured and hundreds of aftershocks continue to hamper search-and-rescue efforts as international teams work to find survivors
Triple-digit heat index values are forecast for several World Cup host cities this week, raising concerns about heat illness
A lawsuit alleges Mesilla Valley dispatchers classified Jacob Garcia’s call as high priority but failed to escalate the response after officers canceled fire and EMS units and a second report came in
A nearly $500,000 state grant will help Watauga County launch a Mobile Integrated Health program, connecting high-need residents with care before emergencies happen