Instacart Shopper Earnings Calculator
Full-service Instacart shopper pay per batch and per hour — batch pay, tips, items and stores per batch, shopping and driving time, mileage costs and tax.
How it works
time per batch = items × minutes per item + driving/checkout + idle; net per hour = (batch pay + tips − miles × cost) ÷ hours per batch
Instacart batch pay is set per order (often $7–15 for a large shop) with tips shown up front, and most of the variation in hourly pay comes from how fast you shop — big orders take over a minute an item once you count checkout and bagging — and from idle time between offers. Heavy, low-item batches (cases of water) and multi-store batches punish the hourly rate. Mileage is deductible at the standard rate.
Worked example
35 items at 1.3 min plus 30 min driving and 15 idle = 91 min; $21 pay minus $2.25 for 9 miles nets $18.75 — about $12.40 an hour, $11 after tax.
Frequently asked questions
Should I accept low-pay batches?
Compute net per hour: a $9 batch that takes 30 minutes beats a $15 one that takes 90.
Is tip-baiting common?
Customers can reduce tips within a window after delivery; it happens but is rare enough to treat shown tips as expected pay.
Related calculators
Platform fees change — every rate here is editable; confirm the current schedule on the platform’s fee page before relying on the result.