Jury duty pay starts at $50 a day in federal court and runs from about $6 to $72 a day in state courts, depending on where you live. Travel costs are usually reimbursed on top of that fee, and for long trials the daily rate can go up. Whether your regular paycheck keeps coming while you serve is a separate question, answered mostly by your employer’s policy and, in a handful of states, by state law.
What Federal Court Pays
Every juror who reports to a U.S. District Court receives $50 for each day of attendance, whether they end up sitting on a trial or spend the day in the jury pool waiting to be called.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees That rate holds from day one through day ten of a trial.
For longer cases, the trial judge has discretion to raise petit jurors’ pay by up to $10 per day starting on the eleventh day. Grand jurors become eligible for the same bump after forty-five days of actual service.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees The statute frames this as a ceiling, not a guarantee. Most judges grant it, bringing the daily rate to $60.
Jurors are typically paid by check or direct deposit on a periodic schedule during service rather than in a lump sum at the end.
What State Courts Pay
State and local courts set their own rates, and the spread is wide. Daily fees run from as little as $6 in some jurisdictions to $72 in others. A lot of states land between $10 and $30 per day, well under the federal number.
Several states use a graduated scale that shifts based on how long a trial runs. A common pattern pays nothing or a token amount for the first day, then jumps to $30 to $50 per day once service extends past three or five days. The reasoning is that short appearances cost the state little, while week-long trials create real financial strain. Other jurisdictions keep a flat rate regardless of length.
Because these amounts are fixed by statute, they often go years without being adjusted. Some jurisdictions also use a “one day or one trial” system that caps your obligation at a single day of selection or the length of one trial, whichever comes first.
Travel, Parking, and Meals
Federal jurors receive a mileage allowance for the round-trip distance between home and the courthouse, calculated along the shortest practical route.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees The rate is set by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and is tied to the rate paid to court personnel driving privately owned vehicles. For reference, the comparable General Services Administration rate for privately owned automobiles is $0.725 per mile as of January 1, 2026.2U.S. General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates You get the mileage even if you don’t actually drive. Someone who carpools or takes a bus still receives the full allowance.
Toll charges for roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries are reimbursed in full. Parking fees may be covered at the court’s discretion when you provide a valid receipt.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees
If a case requires an overnight stay, usually a lengthy grand jury or a trial held far from home, the statute provides a subsistence allowance covering meals and lodging. The rate is capped at the per diem paid to court personnel traveling in the same geographic area. Jurors do not need to itemize meal and lodging costs to claim it.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees
State courts handle travel reimbursement differently. Some mirror the federal mileage approach, others offer a flat daily transportation stipend, and some provide nothing. Check your summons or the court’s website for the local rule.
What Your Employer Has to Pay
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require private employers to pay workers for time spent on jury duty.3U.S. Department of Labor. Jury Duty Whether your regular paycheck continues depends on your employer’s policy or any collective bargaining agreement that covers you. Many mid-size and large employers do continue full pay as a standard benefit, often asking you to provide a certificate of attendance from the court clerk.
A minority of states, roughly eight to ten, require private employers to provide at least some paid leave during jury service. The specifics vary. Colorado mandates regular wages up to $50 per day for the first three days. Connecticut requires full pay for the first five days. New York requires employers with eleven or more employees to pay the first $40 of daily wages for the first three days. Some of these laws let the employer offset the wages they pay against whatever the court pays the juror, so you don’t collect twice for the same day. Small businesses are sometimes exempt. Most states impose no pay requirement at all.
The anti-retaliation protection is much stronger than the pay rule. Federal law prohibits any employer from firing, threatening, intimidating, or coercing a permanent employee because of jury service in a federal court. An employer who violates that protection faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee and may be ordered to perform community service.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1875 – Protection of Jurors Employment Nearly every state has an equivalent statute for service in state and local courts, and many add criminal penalties on top of the civil ones.
Rules for Federal Employees
Federal employees get a better arrangement than most private-sector workers. Under 5 U.S.C. § 6322, a federal employee summoned for jury service is entitled to leave without any loss of pay, accrued leave, time-in-service credit, or performance rating.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6322 – Leave for Jury or Witness Service You receive full salary for every day of service.
You can’t keep both the salary and the jury fee. Under 5 U.S.C. § 5537, a federal employee receiving court leave must surrender the court’s attendance fee back to their agency. The fee is credited against regular compensation. Even an employee who tries to waive or refuse the fee will have their salary reduced by the authorized amount. Federal employees do get to keep any expense reimbursements the court pays for mileage, meals, and lodging, since those aren’t considered jury fees.6U.S. Department of Commerce. Court Leave
Asking to Be Excused for Financial Hardship
If jury service would cause real financial hardship, you can ask the court to excuse or postpone it. The Jury Selection and Service Act allows federal courts to grant temporary deferrals or full excusals based on “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.”7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels There is no uniform federal definition of those terms. Each of the 94 federal district courts applies its own judgment, and the decision can’t be appealed.8United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions, and Excuses
Courts tend to be more receptive to claims from self-employed people, sole caregivers, hourly workers whose employers don’t pay during service, and people with documented medical needs. Requests have to be submitted in writing by the juror, not by an employer, and should spell out the specific financial impact. A vague claim that service is inconvenient rarely works. A letter showing you’re the sole income earner, your employer won’t cover the absence, and the $50 daily fee won’t cover your bills carries real weight.
Even when a court agrees, it will usually reschedule your service rather than drop the obligation entirely. Some district courts also offer permanent excusals for people over 70, anyone who served on a federal jury within the past two years, and active volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members.8United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions, and Excuses State courts generally use a similar framework, with their own qualifying reasons.
Is Jury Duty Pay Taxable
The IRS treats jury attendance fees as taxable income. You report the amount on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8h, regardless of how small the payment is.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income You owe tax on this income whether or not you receive a 1099 form from the court. Courts generally issue a 1099 only when total fees exceed $600 in a calendar year, which is rare, but the reporting obligation exists at any amount.
If your employer pays your full salary during service and requires you to hand over the court’s attendance fee, you can deduct the surrendered amount as an adjustment to income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 24a.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income You still report the jury pay as income on line 8h and then subtract it on line 24a, so the two entries cancel out and you aren’t taxed twice on the same dollars.
Travel reimbursements, meaning mileage, tolls, parking, and subsistence allowances, are generally not taxable income.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income Self-employed jurors face a harder situation. They report the attendance fees as income like everyone else, but there is no deduction available for business income lost while serving. The court’s daily fee is the only compensation the tax code acknowledges.