How to Apply to Drive for Lyft: Requirements & Approval

Applying to drive for Lyft is still mostly paperwork: an application, a background check, a driving record check and a few documents. What has changed since I first wrote this page in 2014 is the detail. Requirements now vary a lot by city and state, so treat anything below as the general shape and check your own city’s page before you spend money on anything.

What Lyft asks for (as of October 2026)

Lyft publishes a “Driver and Vehicle Requirements” page for each market. Its help center sets out the general rules:

• Age: the minimum ranges from 21 to 25 depending on region. Some markets, such as New York City, work differently because of local licensing.
• License history: some states, including California, Illinois and Massachusetts, require at least a year of licensed driving.
• Car: four doors and between five and eight seatbelts. Many cities also set a model-year cutoff (for example, Denver’s page lists 2009 or newer), and those cutoffs differ from city to city. Taxis and limousines are not accepted.
• Documents: a valid driver’s license, current registration and plates, and insurance with your name and the car’s VIN on the policy. Some places also need an inspection (Pennsylvania’s inspection sticker, for instance) or a profile photo.
• Rental option: if you don’t have a qualifying car, Lyft’s Express Drive program lets you rent one through Lyft.

If you are in a state with its own TNC licensing (Massachusetts, for example, runs a state-level check through its DPU), expect an extra step on top of Lyft’s own.

Background and driving record checks

You give consent and a Social Security number, and a third-party company, Checkr, runs the criminal background check. A separate driving record check is also run. Lyft’s pages describe a typical seven-year window for things like DUI or drug-related driving violations, fraud, drug offenses and theft, though the window can vary by region. Violent crimes and sex offenses are disqualifying with no window listed.

Lyft says most background checks finish in a few days, but some take several weeks. You can follow progress in Checkr’s applicant portal, and Lyft support generally only sees whether you were cleared, not the details. Lyft also re-screens active drivers at least every 12 months and monitors for new criminal records.

My original page said you could have “any arrests or convictions within the last 7-10 years”. Do not read it that way. Lyft’s current list of disqualifying offenses is specific, and what counts depends on your state. Read the requirements page for your city before applying.

The steps

1. Start in the Lyft Driver app or on Lyft’s driver sign-up page. In some cities, including Los Angeles, Lyft says the application can only be completed in the app.
2. Enter your details and consent to the background and driving record checks.
3. Upload your license, registration and insurance, plus anything your city requires (inspection form, profile photo).
4. Wait for the checks to clear. Fix any rejected document right away, because that is the most common cause of delay.
5. When Lyft approves you, open the Driver app and go online.

When I started, the process included a “Welcome Ride” with a mentor who inspected the car and went on a test ride with you. Lyft’s current requirements pages do not list that as a general step. Vehicle inspections still exist in some places: California cities require one before approval, Colorado requires one before approval and annually after, and Massachusetts has its own TNC inspection rules.

There is no single approval time. It depends on how fast your background check clears and how quickly you finish any required inspection. Plan for days at best and weeks at worst.

Pay: what Lyft commits to

Since 2024 Lyft has said that drivers earn at least 70% of rider payments each week, after external fees such as local taxes and the government-mandated extra insurance. If your week comes in under that, Lyft says it pays the difference. Lyft announced the commitment in February 2024 and made it nationwide in May 2024, and a 2025 SEC filing still describes it.

Two things to keep in mind. First, it is a share of what riders pay, not a pay rate per hour, and it says nothing about your gas, maintenance or depreciation. Second, the numbers behind the announcement come from Lyft itself.

Lyft also runs bonuses such as streaks and zone-based bonuses, but the offers differ by market and change often. I won’t quote amounts. Look at what is live in your Driver app. The Power Driver Bonus I used in 2016 no longer exists in that form.

Sign-up bonuses and referrals

Lyft sometimes offers new-driver bonuses or referral rewards. They vary by city and over time, usually require a set number of rides within a time limit, and the rules say a referral code has to be entered at the first step of the application, not added later. More on that, including how to avoid scams, on the signup bonuses and referral offers page.

Before you apply

• Check your city’s requirements page first, so you don’t pay for an inspection or a car you can’t use.
• Gross pay is not profit. Before you commit, run your numbers in the profit calculator and the vehicle cost-per-mile calculator.
• Driving for both Lyft and Uber is allowed. See how to become an Uber driver and the Uber approval page.

This site is independent and is not affiliated with Lyft or Uber.