# Taxi Drivers

US SOC code 53-3054. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/53-3054

Also called: Cab driver, Rideshare driver, Ride-hailing driver, Uber driver, Lyft driver.

## In brief

In 2025, BLS counted **204,200** US taxi drivers, including the self-employed. Median pay was **$42,100** a year in May 2025. The earliest figure here is [a Census count](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-4/41084484v4ch02.pdf) of **35,376** from 1910, not measured the same way as today's count. The current technology era for taxi drivers: Driverless robotaxis, since 2020.

Figures: Official statistic (latest count, pay); Researched context (earliest figure).

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 11.5% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-3054&ioType=o) (Official statistic).

### AI exposure studies

- **25%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (Official statistic)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35.

## Taxi Drivers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1880
- Latest US employment: 204,200 (2025). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $42,100 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +11.5% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [15]

### All 11 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1910 | 35,376 | n/a | Decennial Census 1910 [1] |
| 1920 | 9,057 | n/a | Decennial Census 1920 [1] |
| 1950 | 214,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1950 [2] |
| 1960 | 171,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1960 [2] |
| 1970 | 158,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1970 [2] |
| 1980 | 188,593 | n/a | Decennial Census 1980 [3] |
| 2021 | 13,950 | $29,310 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 13,820 | $30,670 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 17,770 | $34,680 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 17,510 | $36,220 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 204,200 | $42,100 | BLS Employment Projections 2025 (employment) [5]; BLS OEWS May 2025 (pay) [6] |

## Sources (33)

### Employment series

1. [US Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census (1920), Vol. IV Occupations, Ch. 2, Table 4 (p. 39), row 50 "Carriage and hack drivers", 1910 column: 35,376](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-4/41084484v4ch02.pdf), US Census Bureau
2. [US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Series D 493 "Taxicab drivers and chauffeurs" (p. 143), 1950 (1960 classification): 214 thousand](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1975/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1970/hist_stats_colonial-1970p1-chD.pdf), US Census Bureau
3. [US Census Bureau, PC80-S1-15 Detailed Occupation of the Experienced Civilian Labor Force by Sex: 1980 and 1970 (p. 15), "Taxicab drivers and chauffeurs": 188,593 (1980), 170,242 (1970)](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1984/demo/pc80-s1-15.pdf), US Census Bureau
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip)
5. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix (occupation.xlsx, Table 1.2, archived copy): 53-3054 Taxi drivers, 204.2 thousand jobs in 2025](https://web.archive.org/web/20260901010043/https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occupation.xlsx), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Wage series

6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

7. [Graham Russell Gao Hodges, "Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver" (Johns Hopkins University Press), book excerpt published by NPR, July 8, 2007](https://www.npr.org/11764578), NPR / Johns Hopkins University Press
8. [US Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census (1920), Vol. IV Occupations, Ch. 2, Table 4 (p. 39), "Carriage and hack drivers" 1910 and 1920](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-4/41084484v4ch02.pdf), US Census Bureau
9. [Federal Communications Commission, 15th Annual Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 1949, "Taxicab Radio Service" (p. 75)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-FCC/FCC-Annual-Reports/FCC-15th-1949.pdf), Federal Communications Commission (archived by World Radio History)
10. [NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, 2014 Taxicab Fact Book (introduction and fare-payment pages)](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/tlc/downloads/pdf/2014_tlc_factbook.pdf), NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
11. [Uber Technologies, Inc., Form S-1 registration statement (April 2019), SEC EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543151/000119312519103850/d647752ds1.htm), US Securities and Exchange Commission
12. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Taxi Drivers, Shuttle Drivers, and Chauffeurs ("What They Do" and "Job Outlook")](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/taxi-drivers-and-chauffeurs.htm), US Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. [BLS Employment Projections, National Employment Matrix, 53-3054 Taxi drivers, 2025 and projected 2035](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-3054&ioType=o), US Bureau of Labor Statistics
14. [Waymo, "Waymo is opening its fully driverless service to the general public in Phoenix" (October 8, 2020)](https://waymo.com/blog/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-driverless-service-in-phoenix/), Waymo

### Forecasts and exposure studies

15. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 53-3054 Taxi drivers (2025: 204.2 thousand; 2035: 227.7 thousand; +11.5%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-3054&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
16. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 53-3054.00, human-rated β 0.25)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

17. [US Census Bureau, Thirteenth Census (1910), Vol. IV Occupation Statistics, Table 15 (p. 54), "Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc." 1880-1910, 1900 classification](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/volume-4/volume-4-p2.pdf), US Census Bureau
18. [Graham Russell Gao Hodges, "Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver", book excerpt published by NPR, July 8, 2007](https://www.npr.org/11764578), NPR / Johns Hopkins University Press
19. [NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, 2014 Taxicab Fact Book, "The Haas Act" and medallion history (p. 12)](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/tlc/downloads/pdf/2014_tlc_factbook.pdf), NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
20. [Federal Communications Commission, 15th Annual Report (1949), "Taxicab Radio Service" (p. 75)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-FCC/FCC-Annual-Reports/FCC-15th-1949.pdf), Federal Communications Commission (archived by World Radio History)
21. [NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, 2020 Factbook (introduction and driver demographics)](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/tlc/downloads/pdf/2020-tlc-factbook.pdf), NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
22. [BLS Employment Projections, National Employment Matrix, 53-3054 Taxi drivers, 2025 and projected 2035](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=53-3054&ioType=o), US Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Predecessors & successors

23. [US Census Bureau, Fourteenth Census (1920), Vol. IV Occupations, Ch. 2, Table 4 (p. 39), "Carriage and hack drivers"](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1920/volume-4/41084484v4ch02.pdf), US Census Bureau
24. [BLS, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC crosswalk: 53-3041 maps to 53-3053 and 53-3054](https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/soc_2010_to_2018_crosswalk.xlsx), US Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.