The DoorDash Heat Map Explained

The DoorDash heat map is the system DoorDash uses to show drivers the busiest places in the city. Each time you open the Dasher app, you’ll see a map of your city. When you start dashing, the DoorDash map will show a heat map of the busiest areas in your city.

The DoorDash heat map can be a useful starting point when figuring out the best places to work in your city. It shouldn’t be the end-all, be-all though either. While the heat map can be useful, it’s not always accurate either. Figuring out the best places to work in your city will usually come down to experience – with enough practice, you’ll understand where to work in your city.

With that said, this post takes a closer look at the DoorDash heat map and explains how it works and how you should use it.

The DoorDash Heat Map

As noted in the introduction to this post, the DoorDash heat map shows Dashers the busiest areas in their respective cities.

When you log into the DoorDash app, you’ll see flames in certain areas. These flames indicate areas of the city where customers are placing a lot of orders.

In the above screenshot, you can see there are several hotspots in my city. Theoretically, if I’m looking for DoorDash orders, most of them will come from restaurants in those areas.

It’s important to note that these flames don’t represent where the order is going (i.e. where the customers live). It’s just providing information about areas that have restaurants that people are ordering from. Accordingly, when you’re in a hotspot, you may get order requests that take you outside of the busy area.

How The DoorDash Heat Map Works

The DoorDash heat map provides information on two types of hotspots. These include dynamic hotspots and historical hotspots.

Dynamic hotspots show areas that are currently busy. When you see a dynamic hotspot on your DoorDash heat map, the area around it will be shaded in red. This shows you areas where customers have placed DoorDash orders. You’ll typically see dynamic hotspots during peak hours (i.e. lunch and dinner hours).

Historical hotspots, on the other hand, show areas that are historically busy, but might not be busy right now. A historical hotspot is represented by a flame but without the red heat map around it. You’ll mainly see historical hotspots during times when it’s not busy. The idea is that during slow times, you’ll want to go to areas where customers have historically placed orders. That way, when orders do start heating up, you’ll get more orders if you’re in those busy areas.

The DoorDash heat map updates every 10 minutes, so you may see slight changes in where the hot areas are located based on the ordering patterns in your city.

Why I Don’t Worry About The DoorDash Heat Map Much

You’ll get a lot of opinions about how important the DoorDash heat map is. To me, I don’t think they’re a very big deal. Rather than chasing the heat map, it’s best to work at the correct times. If you’re working peak hours, it won’t matter much where you are – you’ll get delivery requests. But if you work during off-hours, things will likely be slow no matter where you are on the map.

Besides working at the right times, you also want to have a good understanding of where you should be working in your city. Certain places will always be busier than others, regardless of the heat map. You have to understand where restaurants are located in your city and you need to understand the ordering patterns in your city. You also want to know where people live in your city. Areas that have restaurants and housing nearby are great since you can pick up a lot of orders and avoid traveling long distances.

I’ve been doing DoorDash for a long time, so I know exactly where people order from in my city. In Minneapolis, where I live, the best places to do deliveries are in Downtown Minneapolis during the day, around the University of Minnesota campus, and in Uptown Minneapolis. I’m fortunate to live and work in all of those areas, so I don’t have to go out of my way to be in a busy area and as a result, I don’t really have to look at the heat map.

It’ll take some practice, but you’ll eventually get a good understanding of which areas in your market are busy. Stay in those areas when you want to get orders. Most likely, they’ll be the busy areas on the heat map anyway.

Final Thoughts

The DoorDash heat map shows you the busiest areas in your city. It can provide a good starting point for Dashers trying to figure out the best places to work.

But don’t base all of your decisions on the heat map. You’ll want to use your own experience to figure out the best places to work for your situation. And more important than the heat map is making sure you’re working efficiently and working at the right hours (i.e. during prime hours like lunch and dinner),

The more you work on DoorDash, the better a feel you’ll get of your city.

More Recommended Ebike/Scooters

Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:

GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.

More Recommended Investing App Bonuses

For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:

M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.

More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses

If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.

Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
Digital Federal Credit Union ($100) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on January 31, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before January 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
OnJuno ($60) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $10 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and make a deposit of $50 or more. You will also get 1000 JCOIN. The 1000 of JCOIN is cryptocurrency. At the time I'm writing this, it'll be worth about $50. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.

Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.