If you're reading this post, there's a pretty good chance you're already delivering for DoorDash or are thinking about becoming a courier.
DoorDash is one of the most popular gig apps around, and you can easily boost your income by becoming a DoorDash driver.
But, learning how to DoorDash for the first time can be a bit confusing.
After all, you have to learn the rules to remain an active DoorDash driver, like what driver rating you need and what your DoorDash completion rate and acceptance rate are.
In fact, your DoorDash completion rate is one of the more important rules to understand since a low completion rate can result in Dasher deactivation!
So, if you're wondering what DoorDash completion rate you need to stay active, or what the completion rate is in the first place, this is the post for you!
Want to try other ways to make extra money? Checkout:
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What Is Your DoorDash Completion Rate?
Your DoorDash completion rate is the percentage of orders you complete out of the last 100 orders you accepted. For example, if you complete 75 out of the last 100 orders you accept, then your completion rate is 75%.
The key here is that your DoorDash completion rate is based off ofacceptedorders, so you don't need to worry about declining orders that aren't worth the money.
However, you need to watch your overall completion rate because DoorDash requires active drivers to have a completion rate of 80% or higher.
This completion rating requirement is up from 70%, and Dasherswith a completion rate of below 80% are subject to deactivation.
One of the main DoorDash driver tips is to not worry about becoming a Top Dasher and maintaining a super highacceptancerate since this usually means you take too many low-paying orders.
But, when it comes to your completion rate, you really need to keep this above 80% so you stay an active driver.
However, there are certain scenarios where it might be in your best interest to cancel an order. More on that later!
How Does DoorDash Calculate Completion Rate?
DoorDash calculates completion rate by dividing the number of completed orders by the last 100 accepted orders.
DoorDash refers to a completed order as an order that has been delivered to a customer. In other words, if you don’t physically drop off the food/groceries at a customer’s door, then the order is incomplete.
Dashers can also cancel an active order, but doing so also results in an incomplete order and drops your overall completion rating.
Additionally, beginner Dashers have to be even more careful about keeping their DoorDash completion rate high.
The reason for this is that completion rate for beginner dashers is calculated based on the last 20 accepted orders. So, staying above an 80% only leaves wiggle room for 4 incomplete orders.
When you’re first starting out, you should definitely complete every order you accept, so only accept orders that pay around $1 per mile or more if possible!
What DoorDash Completion Rate Leads To Deactivation?
As mentioned, the minimum DoorDash completion rate to stay active on the app is 80%. If your completion rate is under 80%, you’re subject to deactivation.
There's no exact rule on when you get deactivated, but if you're below 80% completion rate, you're probably going to face deactivation soon, so you should try and get above 80% as fast as possible.
Now, it's important to note that deliveries don't count against your completion rate if the customer is the one who cancels the order.
Additionally, if you try to complete a delivery but can't get in touch with the customer and hand-off the food, DoorDash has options for leaving the food at the door and taking a picture to mark the delivery as complete.
Really, the only way to get a low completion rate is to accept an order and then cancel it for whatever reason.
Once you get to the 100 accepted deliveries mark,every incomplete order will only affect you by 1%.
Unfortunately, DoorDash doesn’t account for emergency situations where you have to cancel an order. Because of this, try to stay well above 80% completion rate so you have a bit of a buffer.
When Should You Cancel DoorDash Deliveries?
While it sounds counterintuitive for keeping a high DoorDash completion rate, canceling active orders is sometimes necessary.
In fact, pro DoorDash drivers often cancel orders and don't worry about keeping a 100% rating since this can actually negatively impact your hourly pay.
Here are a few reasons why you might want to cancel a DoorDash order:
- The wait time hurts your hourly pay
- You have an emergency
- You get stuck on the road somewhere and can't make it to the restaurant
In most scenarios, these won’t happen to you. However, here’s an example of when waiting for a pick up hurts your hourly pay.
Let’s say you accept a Cheesecake Factory order to drive 1.3 miles and complete a delivery for $12.35; that's a really good order!
But, you get there and the kitchen staff tell you they're behind on orders and you probably have to wait at least 30 minutes for the food to be ready.
This is an example of when you should probably cancel your DoorDash order and take the hit against your overall completion rate.
However, when you cancel an active order, make sure you text the customer to explain what's going on. This is good customer service and lets them know that the restaurant is incredibly busy so they should expect slow deliveries.
Again, this is why it's good to have some buffer room for your DoorDash completion rate; you want the flexibility to cancel bad orders with horrendous wait times so you don't hurt your hourly earnings.
Extra Reading – The Best Places To DoorDash.
What Completion Rate Do You Need For Top Dasher?
You need a completion rate of at least 95% to become a Top Dasher.
The Top Dasher program essentially rewards the best Dashers letting them Dash whenever they want without scheduling. Top Dashers also get priority on orders when things are slow.
There are other qualifications to become a top dasher as well. Here are the other Top Dasher requirements:
- Completion rate of at least 95%
- Customer rating of at least 4.7
- Acceptance rate of at least 70%
- Minimum of 100 completed deliveries during the last month
- At least 200 lifetime deliveries completed
The toughest requirement to become a Top Dasher is actually the acceptance rate because this doesn't leave much room for denying low-paying orders.
The completion rate requirement is also quite high, so you can only cancel 5 active orders out of every 100!
One popular DoorDash YouTuber named Nuggs recently published a very interesting video in which he took his low acceptance rate Dasher account into a Top Dasher account:
In the video, Nuggs actually compares how many orders he gets on two DoorDash accounts; one that's a Top Dasher account and one that's a regular driver account.
Nuggs found that being a Top Dasher didn't make much difference for how many orders he received. In fact, the order quality wasn't even higher or noticeably different.
Nuggs also states he lost over $100 in the process of becoming a Top Dasher because he had to accept a lot of low-paying orders and waste time.
So, the bottom line is becoming a Top Dasher probably isn't worth it unless your market is always extremely low.
Because of this, don't worry if your DoorDash completion rate falls below 95% and you can't qualify for Top Dasher. Just make sure you stay above the 80% requirement!
Extra Reading – How Much Can You Make A Week Doing DoorDash?
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most common questions drivers have about the DoorDash completion rate!
Does Completion Rate Matter for DoorDash?
Yes, completion rate matters for DoorDash. You have to maintain at least an 80% completion rate to remain an active driver. This is just one of the several factors that can lead to deactivation. You also need a customer rating of at least 4.2 and you can't be repeatedly late or you might face deactivation.
What’s The Difference Between Acceptance Rate & Completion Rate?
The DoorDash acceptance rate is the percentage of how many orders you accept out of the last 100 orders offered to you on the app. The DoorDash completion rate is a percentage of how many orders you’ve completed out of the last 100 orders you’ve accepted.
If you accepted 90 orders out of the last 100 orders that were offered to you, your acceptance rate would be 90%.
If you completed 90 orders out of the last 100 orders that you accepted, your completion rate would be 90%.
What's The Minimum DoorDash Completion Rate?
The minimum DoorDash completion rate is at least 80% in order to avoid deactivation. If you want to get into the Top Dasher Program, you need a minimum completion rate of 95% to be accepted.
However, it's probably not worth becoming a Top Dasher for most markets, so don't feel bad if you cancel a few orders to make more money per hour.
Extra Reading – The Best DoorDash Driver Hacks.
How Can You Raise Your DoorDash Completion Rate?
You can increase your DoorDash completion rate by accepting and completing more deliveries. Completing rate is calculated based on your previous 100 deliveries, so you can gradually increase your rate as you successfully complete more orders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy4BT0sbzvo
Final Thoughts
Hopefully all your questions have been answered about the DoorDash completion rate.
It’s important to keep an eye on this factor along with the other factors that can lead to deactivation. If you’re on the verge of deactivation, it’s best to accept any order that you receive and to complete it no matter what.
After a few days of deliveries, you should see your completion rate starting to climb back up.
However, always remember to be picky with the orders you accept since this is how you can make more money per hour with any driving gig!
Good luck with your Dashing!
Looking for more ways to make money in the gig economy? Checkout:
- Instacart vs DoorDash – Which Gig Pays More?
- 20+ Ways To Make Money With A Truck.
- Can You Make A Living Off DoorDash?
Tom Blake
Tom is a full-time blogger and freelance writer with a passion for side hustling, passive income, and making money online. His work has appeared on dozens of personal finance websites like Money Crashers, The College Investor, Forbes, and more.
Tom also founded the blog This Online World – a finance site dedicated to helping people make money online – in 2018. After 6 years, that site merged with WebMonkey, with the goal of helping even more people earn their first dollar of online income.
