How much is the New York Taxi Cab Driver Salary? In 2004, the average income of a taxi cab driver in the New York City area was $49,532 per year and this was calculated from the gross revenue of approximately $90,747 and their operating expenses of approximately $41,215. As of today, some drivers can see earning $2,000.00 per week which is roughly $104,000.00 per year before any deductions.

As you can see, expenses (and requirements) are very high for taxi cab drivers so if a driver worked longer hours, their income would increase drastically. Often hired (or corporate) drivers have a schedule of eight (8) to twelve (12) hours and often try to do more even though it is tiring on their bodies and risk their safety late at night when drivers get killed for their collected fares.

A driver’s bottom line is affected by bus and train strikes as during these strikes, drivers tend to get more customers who are unfamiliar in getting around without the use of  these public transportation or those visitors to New York needing to get to back and forth the local airports with heavy luggage.

Unfortunately, any high increases in gas prices, unnecessary maintenance and traffic fines (speeding, parking, failure to maintain), auto insurance costs and time needing to take off for school and traffic court can also affect their the fares they collect for their income.

So, do you still want to become a driver and drive 1 of the 13,500 licensed taxis on the road? If so, classes are available at LaGuardia Community College. If you are at least 19 (18 for corporate driver; 19 individual driver) years of age with a Class A, B, C, E or will upgrade a D driving license and have a relatively clean driving record, is a citizen or legal resident of the United States and dedicate thirty-six (36) hours per week driving, you can get started in driving a taxi in New York State.

If the LaGuardia Community College isn’t right for you, take a look at the Master Cabbie Taxi Academy which is is the largest Taxi Driver Training Center in the World.

For the current salary information, see PayScale.com and NYC.gov for individual and corporate medallion prices.

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