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Sometimes, there’s nothing better than treating yourself to your favorite food without having to leave the house. Nowadays, smartphone apps are ready to deliver your dinner, but while it’s all fun and games loading up your digital cart with mouth-watering meals, the hidden fees and taxes at checkout can be enough to make a hungry user lose their appetite.
An experiment by The New York Times found that the combined cost of Uber Eats’ various surcharges was equivalent to a 91% markup on the restaurant cost of a meal, the highest of any leading food delivery app. This got the CouponBirds team thinking: where in the United States are Uber Eats users spending the most on hidden fees for their takeout? To answer this question, they calculated the average cost of hidden fees for fast food deliveries in every state and the most populated U.S. cities.
Seattle has the highest hidden fees ($12.16) when ordering Uber Eats takeout of any major U.S. city.
Toledo, Ohio, has the lowest average hidden Uber Eats fees ($2.13) of any city.
Washington ($7.80) and California ($6.42) are the states with the highest hidden fees on Uber Eats.
Delaware ($2.31) has the lowest average hidden Uber Eats fees of any U.S. state.
Seattle’s Uber Eats Hidden Fees: The Highest in the Nation
If you’re in Seattle and craving takeout, it might be kinder on your wallet to go out to eat instead: the average cost of hidden fees on an Uber Eats order here is $12.16, more than in any other U.S. city. Locals may grumble, but there’s a good reason: a new Seattle law implemented in January 2024 requires gig workers like delivery drivers to receive a minimum wage, leading Uber to add a “Local Operating Fee” of five dollars and increase its service fees.
Four Californian cities round out the top five spots, with the average hidden fees of ordering through Uber Eats in San Francisco totaling $7.35. Pricey fees don’t seem to bother Golden Gate locals, though: one Uber Eats report noted that San Francisco is one of the most polite cities when it comes to customer instructions, with users writing “please” and “thank you” the most. It’s also likely less of an issue, considering San Francisco boasts the country’s highest median household income.
In contrast, residents of Toledo, Ohio, pay the lowest average cost ($2.13) for hidden fees when using Uber Eats. None of the top ten cities with the lowest fees have an average hidden cost that exceeds three dollars. They are indeed lucky!
Washington State’s Hidden Fees: The Highest in the U.S.
Looking at states as a whole, Washington ($7.80) has the priciest average hidden fees on Uber Eats, influenced by Seattle’s minimum wage law. California has the second highest with an average of $6.42. In 2020, Uber and its peers successfully pushed for the passing of Proposition 22, a Californian law that exempts gig workers from being classified as employees. Uber increased its rates in the Golden State to offset the cost of the new benefits it promised workers.
The rights of rideshare workers like Uber Eats drivers are a concern for many across the nation. In Connecticut, the state with the third highest hidden fees (an average of $4.99), drivers have lobbied for better pay, prompting Uber to respond that the resulting increased fares (and, presumably, food delivery fees) would put Connecticut riders and users off Uber entirely.
On average, the hidden fees on an Uber Eats order in Delaware are only $2.31, which is lower than any other state in the US. Delaware is among three states in the United States that do not permit the direct delivery of alcohol to consumers, but lawmakers are working on a bill to change this, allowing alcohol to be purchased along with at least $10 worth of food through apps like Uber Eats.
The map of the United States above highlights the city within each state that has the highest average cost of hidden fees for a popular dish. Seattle is the city in the United States with the highest average of $12.16 in hidden fees added to each order. This is nearly twice the cost that the city with the second-highest cost, San Francisco ($7.35), has to pay.
Among the highest is New York City ($6.24), where Uber Eats adds a New York Courier Fee (an extra $2 per $30 spent) to orders to compensate for a higher minimum wage requirement. Minneapolis, with an average fare of $5.54, is at the top in Minnesota. Uber is threatening to cease operations in the city due to new laws requiring the company to pay its drivers a minimum wage.
A Detailed Look at Hidden Fees for Uber Eats Orders Across the United States
The CouponBirds team analyzed the average cost of Uber Eats’ hidden fees by considering three popular dishes from McDonald’s, Subway, and Chick-fil-A across the United States. The visualization below shows the states with the highest hidden fees for each meal. It considers the total cost of hidden fees and the equivalent percentage cost versus the price of the food.
The most expensive dish to order among the three meals is the 6-inch Garlic Roast Beef Sub from Subway. On average, Uber Eats users in the U.S. have to pay hidden fees equivalent to 37% of the cost of the sandwich. The states of Washington and California have the highest hidden fees across the board.
States with the Highest Hidden Fees for Uber Eats Orders
The next graphic illustrates the distribution of hidden fees for Uber Eats orders across all states. Hidden fees consist of service fees and taxes in most states, but in six others, an additional fee contributes to the total cost. One of the states considering this fee is Maryland, where as of March 2024, lawmakers are thinking about implementing a 50-cent “road impact” fee on rideshare trips and food deliveries. In Oregon, due to the absence of sales tax, service fees account for 96% of the hidden costs of ordering from Uber Eats.
A study by YouGov revealed that 21% of individuals in the U.S. order takeout multiple times per month. We’re not the global biggest lovers of ordering in (looking at you, Taiwan and Thailand), but when the average cost of an Uber Eats delivery in the United States is $33.94, you can see how our taste for takeout affects our finances.
Methodology & Sources
From a list of 164 of the most populous American cities, the CouponBirds team manually gathered online prices and additional ‘taxes and other fees’ for three popular fast food dishes on Uber Eats:
6″ Garlic Roast Beef Sub (Subway)
3 ct Chick-n-Strips Meal (Chick-fil-A)
Double Quarter Pounder® with Cheese Meal (McDonald’s)
They then determined the average price paid (USD) in ‘taxes and other fees’ that appear at the checkout stage of the order for each American city and state. Next, the CouponBirds team calculated the average price paid for these fees per dish in each U.S. state.
Taxes and other fees typically include a service fee and taxes. Sometimes, a city and state include a third legislative tax (for instance, the ‘Driver Benefits Fee‘ in California). These types of charges were also included in the calculations for a hidden fee.
This analysis was completed in April 2024.
Save on Your Next Uber Eats Order
Unfortunately, hidden fees are an inevitable part of having your dinner delivered. On Uber Eats, the delivery fee is calculated based on your distance from the restaurant. The service fee is usually 10% of your basket’s cost before any discounts are applied. Other additional local taxes and surcharges might appear during checkout.
If you want to save money on your next takeout order, consider choosing a restaurant closer to your house and compare the delivery fees. Don’t forget to explore any available discounts and promotions. Don’t forget to also tip your hard-working driver!
