How Much Does Jury Duty Pay in Florida Per Day?

Jury duty in Florida pays between $0 and $30 per day, and which rate applies to you depends on two things: whether your employer keeps paying your regular wages while you serve, and how many days the trial lasts. The rates are set by Florida Statute 40.24 and are among the lowest in the country.¹

The Three Pay Tiers

Florida uses a tiered system that treats the first three days differently from day four onward, and treats employed-with-pay jurors differently from everyone else.

If your employer continues your regular wages during service, the court pays you nothing for the first three days. You’re already being compensated, so the state doesn’t double up.
If you’re self-employed, unemployed, or your employer doesn’t pay you while you serve, the court pays $15 per day for the first three days.
Starting on the fourth day, every juror receives $30 per day regardless of employment status.

“Regular employment” under the statute covers full-time, part-time, temporary, and casual work, as long as your hours can be reasonably determined from a schedule or an established pattern over the three months before your service.¹

What this means in dollars for most people: Florida uses a “one day or one trial” system, so if you’re not selected for a panel, your service ends after one day. The average trial runs about three days. Most jurors therefore collect somewhere between $0 and $45 from the court. A two-week trial, by comparison, works out to roughly $375 total.

What the Court Won’t Pay For

Florida does not reimburse state court jurors for mileage, parking, tolls, meals, or any other out-of-pocket expense. The statute spells this out directly: jurors are “not entitled to additional reimbursement by the clerk of the circuit court for travel or other out-of-pocket expenses.”¹ Budget to cover your own gas, parking, and lunch for every day you show up.

When the Check Arrives

The clerk of the circuit court processes juror payments after your service ends, and most people receive a mailed check within a few weeks. Timing varies by county. During check-in on your first day, you may be asked to confirm your mailing address and complete a short payment form.

At the end of service, the clerk’s office will give you written notice of an option some circuits offer: donating your jury pay to a Guardian ad Litem program or a domestic violence shelter.¹

If Your Employer Pays You During Service

Florida law does not require employers to pay your regular salary while you’re on jury duty, but many do as a company benefit. Check your employee handbook or ask HR before your service date, because the answer determines whether you’re in the $0 tier or the $15 tier for those first three days.

Some employers that pay full salary during jury service require you to hand over the jury check in return. If that happens, you can deduct the amount you gave back when you file your federal taxes, so you aren’t taxed on money you never kept.

One wrinkle to know about: if you ask to be excused from service and the court grants the request, you forfeit compensation for any days you did appear. The provision is built into the same statute and discourages last-minute excusal requests.¹

If you’re receiving reemployment assistance (Florida’s name for unemployment), jury pay does not reduce those benefits.¹

Federal Jury Duty in Florida Pays More

Read your summons carefully, because the pay structure is very different if you’ve been called to a U.S. District Court rather than a Florida state circuit court.

Federal jurors receive $50 per day for attendance. A judge can raise that to $60 per day for petit jurors who serve more than ten days on a single case.² Grand jurors become eligible for the $60 rate after 45 days of service.³ Federal courts also reimburse reasonable transportation expenses, including mileage and parking, and may provide meal and lodging allowances for overnight stays. Federal government employees are the exception: they continue drawing their regular salary instead of the attendance fee.

Jury Pay and Your Taxes

Jury pay is taxable income at the federal level, even in small amounts. Report it on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8h. You generally won’t receive a W-2 for it, but you’re still responsible for including it on your return.⁴

If you turned your jury check over to an employer that paid your full salary during service, you can deduct that amount as an adjustment to income on Schedule 1, line 24a.⁴

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 40.24 – Compensation and Reimbursement Policy
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees
3
United States Courts. Juror Pay
4
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax