How far does DoorDash deliver? It’s a question you might be asking yourself if you’re looking to order food through the DoorDash app, but have your eyes set on a restaurant that isn’t that close to you.
Or maybe you’re working as a DoorDash delivery person (DoorDash calls delivery people Dashers). After all, if you’re delivering food with DoorDash, you probably want to know how far you’ll have to travel to complete your deliveries.
If you’re wondering how far DoorDash delivers, here’s the answer. In general, DoorDash has a delivery radius of about a few miles (think up to 5-7 miles or so). While DoorDash can deliver farther than that, you’re less likely to find restaurants that’ll deliver that far. You may also have trouble finding Dashers willing to accept your order if you place an order at a restaurant far away from you.
This is because DoorDash approaches deliveries a little bit differently compared to other delivery apps like Uber Eats or Grubhub. Both of those apps treat their cities as one big delivery zone. When delivery drivers log in, they can in theory get orders going anywhere in the city.
By contrast, DoorDash divides the cities it operates in into smaller zones. Rather than having one big delivery zone, a city might be divided into 6 or more small zones. Dashers operate in each small zone and while they can get orders that take them outside of their zone, they are less likely to see them (and perhaps less likely to accept those orders since the orders will take them out of their zone).
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how far DoorDash delivers if you’re a customer and how far it delivers if you’re a Dasher.
How Far Does DoorDash Deliver If You’re A Customer?
In my experience, DoorDash limits customers to nearby restaurants (i.e. those located within a few miles of the customer. When I search on the DoorDash app, I rarely see restaurants that are farther than 5-7 miles away.
For example, I tried to place an order at a restaurant about 12 miles from my house but received this message when I clicked on it:
Every restaurant is different, so you will find restaurants that are willing to deliver further. It’s important to note that the farther away you are from a restaurant, the higher the delivery fee will be. So you will benefit as a customer by sticking to restaurants closer to you.
In addition, if you order from a restaurant that’s far away, there’s a higher chance you may find yourself waiting a long time for your order or even finding that no one will pick up your DoorDash order. This is because Dashers are paid per delivery and can choose whether to accept or reject any order. If the order is going far away, they’re less likely to accept it since it might not be worth their time.
How Far Does DoorDash Deliver If You’re A Dasher?
If you’re a Dasher, DoorDash tends to keep your deliveries within the zone you’re working in. How far orders will go depends on the vehicle you’re using, however.
If you use a car, then DoorDash can send you orders going anywhere. For the most part, though, they tend to keep orders within the delivery zone you’re in. And of course, you can always reject any orders that don’t make sense to you.
I do my deliveries using an ebike or electric scooter, which keeps my delivery distances shorter. DoorDash has different vehicle types you can choose when you sign-up, so if you’re on a bike or scooter, it knows this and keeps your delivery requests in a smaller zone.
Final Thoughts
DoorDash typically keeps delivery distances closer so that customers can get their food faster. If you’re a customer, it’s in your interest to order from nearby restaurants, rather than looking at restaurants that are far from you. You’ll pay a smaller delivery fee if you stick to restaurants close by. And Dashers will be more likely to pick up your order and deliver it to you quickly if you keep the distances shorter.
If you’re interested in how far other delivery apps will deliver, check out the below:
JD says
This post was useful.