No. of Recommendations: 3
Uber drivers frequently have a rough time making a living. The recent price hikes in fuel have made being one in Australia rougher than usual:
Uber math: I had a chat with my Uber driver, in Darwin, about the current business proposition. He traveled six km to pick us up for a 3km trip. Petrol (gasoline to us) now costs $3AUD a liter and he gets 10km/liter, so that’s say 3 bucks in fuel.
The fare was $13.50AUD from which Uber takes 28%, so that cost him about another $4, leaving him about $7AUD (or roughly $5USD) for his half hour of work and the wear on his car. Uber has not readjusted their rates and he said that if he didn’t accept our ride, despite driving quite a distance to et to us, he would be “punished” by Uber by not receiving ride calls.
He said that he looked forward to Saturday nights when the US service personnel from the local base went out on the town because they were big tippers (and Australian passengers rarely tip).
Convert 10 km/L at AUD $2.99/L → MPG and USD per gallon
1) Convert fuel economy: km/L → mpg
The formula is:
\mathrm{mpg}=\mathrm{km/L}\times 2.35215
So:
10\times 2.35215=23.5215
Fuel economy: ~23.5 mpg
2) Convert fuel price: AUD $2.99/L → USD per gallon
Step A — Convert liters → gallons
1\mathrm{\ gallon}=3.785\mathrm{\ liters}
2.99\mathrm{\ AUD/L}\times 3.785=11.31\mathrm{\ AUD/gallon}
Step B — Convert AUD → USD
Using a typical exchange rate of 1 AUD ≈ 0.66 USD:
11.31\times 0.70=7.97\mathrm{\ USD/gallon}
Gasoline costs about $8 USD per gallon
So, the question is “How helpful that $5 “profit” was to the driver
Comparison of cost of living:
Key Takeaways
USA is more expensive overall (by ~4%)
But this varies by city.
USA has cheaper housing
This is the biggest factor.
Australia has cheaper eating out
Restaurants and cafés cost less.
USA has higher salaries
Better purchasing power for many professions.
Australia has higher transport costs
Fuel, insurance, and car ownership cost more.
If you value higher salaries + cheaper housing → USA wins
If you value quality of life + healthcare + safety → Australia wins
(Australia scores higher on life expectancy and quality-of-life indices.)
Most cost of living indexes do not include income tax in their core calculations.
Australia's effective tax rate on $100K is 28% or about the same as someone living in a high-tax state (such as CA or NY)
Australia has a 10% value added tax, but different UUS states charge various sales tax amounts (usually less than 10%)
Answer: Not Very
Jeff
