Jury duty in New York City pays $72 per day in state court, a rate that took effect on June 8, 2025.1New York State Comptroller. State Agencies Bulletin No. 2358 – June 2025 Increase Jury Duty Daily Compensation The same $72 applies to trial juries and grand juries across all five boroughs. If your summons is for federal court in Manhattan or Brooklyn, the rate is $50 per day instead. Who actually cuts the check — your employer, the state, or both — depends on how big your employer is and how long your service lasts.
What the $72 State Rate Covers
Every juror who physically reports to a New York State courthouse earns $72 for that day.2New York State Senate. New York Code JUD Article 16 – 521 Fees and Travel Expenses of Jurors That includes days you sit in the assembly room waiting without ever being assigned to a trial. If your service runs past 30 days, the court can authorize an extra $6 per day on top of the base rate.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook
The $72 doesn’t always come to you as a separate payment. If your employer pays your full wages during jury service and those wages equal or exceed $72 a day, the state pays you nothing. You only receive the state fee when your employer pays you nothing or pays less than $72 a day — in which case the state covers the gap up to the $72 floor.2New York State Senate. New York Code JUD Article 16 – 521 Fees and Travel Expenses of Jurors
New York State courts do not reimburse transportation, parking, or meals. The one exception is a sequestered jury, where the state covers food and lodging overnight.2New York State Senate. New York Code JUD Article 16 – 521 Fees and Travel Expenses of Jurors
What Your Employer Owes You
New York splits employer obligations by company size, and the rules change after your first three days.
Employers With More Than 10 Employees
If your employer has more than 10 employees, they cannot withhold the first $72 of your daily wages for each of the first three days of service.4New York State Senate. New York Judiciary Law 519 – Right of Juror to Be Absent From Employment Your paycheck should look normal for those three days, at least up to $72 a day. If your usual pay is less than $72, your employer pays your regular wage and the state sends a check for the difference.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook
After day three, your employer has no legal obligation to keep paying. Many larger employers continue your salary voluntarily. If yours doesn’t, the state pays $72 for every remaining day you serve.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook
Employers With 10 or Fewer Employees
Small employers owe nothing during your jury service. If your employer has 10 or fewer employees and doesn’t choose to pay you, the state pays the $72 daily rate starting from day one.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook
Part-Day Service
If the court dismisses you early and you head to work, your employer pays you for the hours you actually worked. During the first three days, larger employers still owe the jury fee or your regular wage for the time you missed. An employer cannot require you to work a full evening or night shift on a day you also served a full day of jury duty.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook
If You’re a Salaried Exempt Employee
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, your employer must pay your full weekly salary for any workweek in which you perform any work at all, even if most of the week was spent in a courtroom. They cannot dock your pay for jury absences during a week you also worked.5U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Overtime Security Advisor – Compensation Requirements
Your employer can offset the $72 state jury fee against your salary for that week so they aren’t paying twice. If an entire workweek passes where you perform zero work because jury duty consumed every business day, the employer is not required to pay you for that week.5U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Overtime Security Advisor – Compensation Requirements
Self-Employed and Unemployed Jurors
The state pays the $72 fee directly to jurors who are self-employed with 10 or fewer employees, unemployed, collecting workers’ compensation, receiving public assistance, or on disability.3New York State Unified Court System. Petit Juror’s Handbook For the self-employed, $72 a day is the whole picture. There’s no mechanism to reimburse lost business income beyond that flat rate.
Federal Jury Duty Pays Less
New York City hosts two federal courthouses: the Southern District of New York in Manhattan and the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. If your summons is federal rather than state, the pay rules are entirely different.
Federal jurors earn $50 per day. If a trial runs longer than 10 days, the judge can bump that to $60 per day for every day beyond the tenth. Grand jurors reach the $60 rate after 45 days.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees
Unlike state courts, federal courts reimburse reasonable transportation and, in some courts, parking. Jurors required to stay overnight can receive meal and lodging allowances.7United States Courts. Juror Pay Federal employees called for federal jury duty keep their regular salary instead of the $50 fee.
When the Check Arrives
The New York State Comptroller mails jury duty checks after your service ends.1New York State Comptroller. State Agencies Bulletin No. 2358 – June 2025 Increase Jury Duty Daily Compensation Expect four to six weeks. The check covers only the days the state owes you. If your employer paid your full wages for the first three days and you served five total days, the state check covers days four and five.
Taxes on Your Jury Pay
The IRS treats jury fees as taxable income. You report the amount on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8h.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income If your fees for the year reach $600 or more, you should receive a Form 1099-MISC, but the tax is owed regardless of whether the form appears.9United States District Court – District of New Jersey. Are Juror Attendance Fees Considered Reportable Income New York State and New York City also tax the fees as ordinary income.
Many employers require you to sign over your state jury check because they already paid your full salary during service. If that happens, you still report the fee as income, then deduct the same amount on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 24a.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income The deduction is an adjustment to gross income, so you don’t need to itemize to claim it, and the net tax effect is zero. Travel reimbursements from federal court are not taxable.