Top 10 Best Paying Delivery Jobs to Earn Great Money in 2024

keyKey Takeaways:
  • The healthcare, pharmaceutical, and logistics sectors often offer the highest pay for delivery jobs.
  • Although work as independent contractors can pay more, they frequently come with added costs and risks.
  • Working during seasons of high demand, taking tips, and reaping the benefits of referral programs are all ways that delivery drivers can raise their earnings.
  • To make sure a delivery job is a suitable fit for your needs, it’s crucial to think about the pay rate, work schedule, perks, and job requirements before accepting.

More than 20 billion parcels were shipped in the United States in 2020, and it could not have happened but for the 1,300,000+ delivery drivers workforce in the United States.

They are one of the critical factors of your delivery business that decide the success and failure of the delivery strategy.

If you have a skilled and talented workforce, you can operate as a third-party delivery service provider for multiple businesses and help your delivery drivers get high-paying jobs.

Multiple companies are looking to hire delivery workers because of the rising demand in the country’s multiple retail sectors, like eCommerce, medical, food, and construction.

We have filtered the top 10 best-paying delivery jobs that your delivery drivers can choose to earn great money in 2024.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

Less time on the road, more time at home

Overview of the Best Paying Delivery Jobs

Delivery jobs have become a popular way to earn a living, especially with the rise of gig economy platforms and e-commerce. 

Whether you want flexibility or a steady paycheck, there are many delivery roles out there that offer great pay. From food delivery to specialized package handling, these jobs can be highly rewarding. 

So, let’s discuss some of the key factors that impact earning potential and what you should know when choosing a delivery job that pays well.

Key factors to consider when choosing a delivery job

When deciding on a delivery job, it’s important to look at more than just the paycheck. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Type of delivery: Different delivery jobs, like food, parcels, or groceries, come with different requirements. Some may need you to own a vehicle, while others let you use a bike or scooter.
  2. Job flexibility: Consider whether you want to work full-time or part-time. Some jobs allow you to set your own schedule, which can be great if you need flexibility.
  3. Upfront costs: Some delivery jobs might require you to invest in a vehicle, fuel, or insurance. Make sure to factor in these costs when evaluating a job’s pay.
  4. Physical demands: Some jobs may involve heavy lifting or long hours on the road. Make sure you’re comfortable with the physical requirements before committing.
  5. Payment structure: Ask the following questions: How often will you get paid? Are there bonuses available? What about tips?

By thinking through these factors, you can choose a delivery job that fits your lifestyle while offering good pay.

Earning potential and job outlook for delivery drivers

Let’s talk money and future prospects. Delivery drivers can earn anywhere from $15 to $25 per hour on average. However, top performers in busy areas can make even more. Your earnings will depend on:

  • Your location
  • Hours worked
  • Type of deliveries
  • Company bonuses
  • Customer tips
  • Peak hour incentives

The job outlook is strong. More businesses are offering delivery services. Online shopping continues to grow. Food delivery remains popular. This means steady work opportunities for delivery drivers.

Want to know which delivery jobs pay the best? Let’s look at the top 10 highest-paying delivery jobs in detail.

Detailed Breakdown of the Top 10 Best Paying Delivery Jobs

1. Postmates driver

It’s a powerful on-demand app that can provide a great platform for your delivery drivers to get food delivery jobs and perform other delivery services. The flexible delivery timings make it great for the drivers to work and deliver quality results. The platform offers great opportunities that help it stand out from other food delivery apps. 

The app doesn’t require special skills for delivery jobs as sometimes it can be done on foot. Your delivery driver can associate with local restaurants, merchant partners, and small businesses, from food deliveries to goods, to complete the tasks.

Postmates offer up to $25 per hour, and there are no restrictions on the working hours a driver puts in. You can associate a team of drivers with the platform to help you scale your delivery business and earn a great commission.

The platform offers an option to cash out earnings daily, but the driver gets paid weekly. It’s the only delivery company that has ditched the rating system that can restrict drivers from getting jobs if they have a low score compared to others.

Available in over 3,500 cities in the United States, you can connect with the platform to operate in your preferred locality.

Pros
  • Drivers get paid for waiting on orders
  • High incentives and challenges for better earnings
  • Flexible working hours
Cons
  • Limited support
  • The orders are small in scale, which can limit the payout

2. DoorDash driver

DoorDash is the best food delivery service provider that offers the best delivery driver jobs. The food delivery app has the largest industry customer share and a wide range of customers who love to order food from different restaurants and local food stores.

Your drivers don’t need a diploma or 2-3 years of experience to get the driving gigs on the platform. A driver willing to put in the effort to ensure a quality delivery experience to the customers can help them land a delivery gig using DoorDash.

DoorDash drivers can get great commissions for completing different food delivery driver jobs. The platform operates in cities like  Houston, Denver, Austin, and Boston, among others in the United States.

It’s a great option to earn commissions for your delivery business as the opportunities offered by the platform are great.

Pros
  • Choose and pick the orders you want to complete
  • Great incentives and options for increased earnings
  • Default tip rate of 15%
Cons
  • Limited and small-scale packages that limit the payouts
  • Only chat support is available for the drivers

3. Uber Eats driver

One of the pioneers in the rideshare space, Uber also has a solid presence in the food delivery market with Uber Eats. It offers the opportunity for delivery drivers to associate with the platform and choose one of its food delivery services.

You can enroll your delivery drivers and earn good commissions from the platform. It has a presence in over 6,000+ cities and 60+ countries, making it easier to spread your delivery business.

The platform offers great payouts on every delivery depending upon the delivery requirements and the distance traveled. You can also get 100% transparency with the tips, and if you want to address any issues, you can contact customer support for doubt clearance.

The platform is great for new delivery drivers as there are no strict restrictions that can reject the applications of your delivery drivers. It conducts delivery jobs hiring now and then.

The requirements of associating with Uber Eats as a delivery driver are: the driver needs to be 19 years or older, must use a reliable vehicle, must have car insurance and a government-issued ID card, and one year of driving experience. You need to pass a background check to get jobs near your living space for better results.

Pros
  • Used widely in the country and can provide great delivery gigs
  • Great incentives to increase the overall earning potential as an Uber Eats driver
  • Can work simultaneously on rideshare and delivery service in the Uber ecosystem
Cons
  • The payment system can be confusing; you need to refresh it repeatedly

4. Instacart driver

It’s a powerful platform for grocery shopping and delivery. Instacart provides a great opportunity for delivery drivers to associate with the brand and handle grocery delivery jobs.

The driver must collect the local groceries and deliver them to the desired location quickly and efficiently. Instacart provides great earning opportunities for delivery drivers and flexibility, which can help the drivers adjust their work schedules to deliver groceries.

The platform is operating in over 6,000 cities nationwide and in Canada. It pays commissions on every order and provides you the opportunity to earn tips on delivering groceries. It charges a minimal delivery fee and strongly connects with local grocery stores.

The Instacart payout is every week, and the drivers can withdraw daily earnings while paying a minimal $0.50 fee. Instacart has set a few basic requirements before hiring the delivery driver: the driver needs to be 18 or older and is supposed to have a valid driving license and auto insurance.

They want their drivers to operate on vehicles that can lift 40 pounds. They also conduct a background check to ensure that the brand is not associated with someone with a shady background and that they associate with the best talent to stand out from other delivery companies.

Pros
  • Drivers can schedule hours ahead
  • Available across the United States
  • It allows you to check the estimated earnings within a few clicks on the mobile application and your desktop
Cons
  • Drivers need to carry heavy grocery bags
  • Require a car

5. GrubHub driver

It’s a food delivery application that offers multiple food delivery service jobs in the country. The driver must have a license or a state identification to become a GrubHub courier partner and be eligible to deliver food.

The driver can earn up to $10–26 an hour once they kickstart delivery operations with the platform. The minimum age for becoming a delivery associate is 19 years; for states like Chicago and Las Vegas, it’s 21 years.

The team makes a background check to analyze the drivers, and the contracts are delivered based on the results. An Android or iPhone is required, and the vehicle must be insured.

Pros
  • The tip rate is 15% by default
  • Professional phone support for drivers
  • Detailed information about the orders
Cons
  • Lower incentives compared to other delivery jobs

6. ​​Shipt Shopper Pay

A competitor in the grocery delivery segment to Instacart, Shipt offers drivers exciting offers to become professional grocery delivery drivers.  

With the basic requirements of a valid driver’s license, minimum age of 18 years, access to a vehicle, and a smartphone, a driver can associate with Shipt.

The commission strategy is different from Instacart as the driver earns a base pay of $5 per order and 7.5% of the total order. 

Once the driver completes 100 deliveries, Shipt can assist the driver in earning $22, or more, per hour. It also offers free Shipt membership to the leader delivery partners, and the payment is processed every Friday.

Pros
  • Free Shipt membership for great performers
  • Increase earnings by batching orders
  • Complete earning details can be accessed within a few clicks
Cons
  • Limited operations compared to Instacart

7. Saucey driver

A popular alcohol delivery service app, Saucey offers a great platform for drivers to earn money and commissions. It operates in 40+ cities, including New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles, and ensures that the drivers don’t face hassles while delivering alcohol. 

The platform offers wine, spirits, cigars, beers, and snacks that must be delivered to the doorsteps. It requires hard-working individuals who can satisfy the 30- minutes delivery promised by the brand to its customers.

Saucey drivers earn up to $10–12 per hour; there are also different tips and incentives for the work. The minimum age for applying as an associate driver is 21 years, and the company will perform a background check to confirm the association.

Pros
  • Limited shopping and stress-free working schedule
  • Minimum pay is guaranteed once you schedule in advance
Cons
  • No tips guaranteed
  • Limited hours of work can result in minimal payouts

8. Caviar driver

Caviar is a growing, smaller food delivery service platform with multiple options for delivery associates to connect with the brand and help them solve their delivery requirements. The services are limited to large Midwest, East-coast, and California cities. It is considered one of the best food delivery apps for delivery driver jobs as it offers a flexible schedule, instant cash, and other fast-food delivery job benefits.

The drivers can accept and reject the order requests based on the complete details provided by the platform and can create their schedules for better work performance.

The payouts are great as a driver can earn up to $25 per hour. The platform also offers different incentives and tips for drivers to ensure a happy work ecosystem.

Pros
  • Live phone support
  • Details of the order are visible before accepting
  • Instant payments after the order completion
Cons
  • Limited areas of the operation
  • The hiring process is hectic and longer compared to others

9. Favor delivery driver

A direct competitor to Postmates, Favor offers its customers a wide range of delivery options from meals to groceries, from dry cleaning to other important deliveries. 

The brand is openly looking for quality delivery drivers to offer them high-paying jobs to fulfill various delivery services. The services are available throughout Texas, but the company is looking to expand to the Midwest.

Drivers can work full-time or part-time, as the platform offers flexible work schedules.

Pros
  • Incentives to increase earnings
  • Deliver by bike
  • The driver can work whenever they wish
Cons
  • Only available in Texas

10. Amazon flex driver

Amazon offers a grocery delivery service job on its Amazon Flex platform, where you can work independently to build your schedule. There’s no requirement for the driver to avail of a special license. 

Once the driver is enrolled in Amazon Flex, they can deliver orders on Amazon Prime Now, Amazon Prime, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Restaurants. The freelance delivery jobs by Amazon are available in 40 areas in the country.

Pros
  • Backing of Amazon for better transparency
  • There is more opportunity to earn profits with a wider Amazon ecosystem
  • Great support for drivers
Cons
  • The service is limited to specific areas in the country

You choose one of the platforms to associate with your drivers to help them increase their earnings. 

But enabling your delivery drivers with a professional delivery route planner can help you increase their work efficiency and ensure that they follow optimized and shortest delivery paths.

It can increase the payouts and ensure that your delivery business can scale the delivery route planner. Out of the industry’s best route planner apps, we have selected one for your delivery business.

FAQ

Yes. But you need to provide quality service in the industry to sustain for a longer time and stand out from other delivery apps.

There are multiple delivery apps to work with, like Amazon Flex, Uber Eats, Postmate, and Instacart, among others, for a delivery driver to choose from. They offer great-paying delivery driver jobs and hourly pay that can help the drivers make more money, have their own schedule, and be their own boss.

It removes manual processing and adds automation to increase business efficiency and productivity.

Upper Route Planner is the best delivery route planner as it stands out from the rest because of its premium features and cost-effective pricing.

How Upper Route Planner Can Benefit Delivery Drivers and Businesses

Upper Route Planner is a professional delivery route planning optimization software that can help you enhance the quality of your delivery operations. It can assist the drivers in maximizing their business efficiency and handling the multi-stop delivery process with finesse.

You can save up to 95% of the delivery management time, enhance productivity by 40%, and can easily upload 500 delivery addresses for quick routing.

Get access to the 3-days FREE trial and transform your delivery business.

Author Bio
Riddhi Patel
Riddhi Patel

Riddhi, the Head of Marketing, leads campaigns, brand strategy, and market research. A champion for teams and clients, her focus on creative excellence drives impactful marketing and business growth. When she is not deep in marketing, she writes blog posts or plays with her dog, Copper. Read more.