Published October 13, 2026
How much does jury duty pay in New York? Seventy-two dollars a day, up from $40, effective June 8, 2025, when the state budget amended Judiciary Law sections 519 and 521. That was the first raise in decades, and it made New York one of the better-paying jury systems in the country. The catch is that the $72 does not come from one place. It comes from a waterfall: your employer, then the state, in a sequence that depends on your employer's size, your daily wage, and which day of service you are on.
| Who you are | Days 1 to 3 | Day 4 and beyond |
|---|---|---|
| Employer has 11+ employees, you earn over $72/day | Employer pays $72/day | State pays $72/day |
| Employer has 11+ employees, you earn under $72/day | Employer pays your daily wage; state pays the difference to $72 | State pays $72/day |
| Employer has 10 or fewer employees | State pays $72/day | State pays $72/day |
| Not employed | State pays $72/day | State pays $72/day |
One detail catches people off guard: the employer's obligation only covers days you were scheduled to work. Serve on a Tuesday you had off and the state pays the $72 fee, not your employer. The law was written around the idea that the employer is replacing wages, so when there are no wages to replace, the state's fee stands in. If you are an exempt salaried employee, a separate federal rule matters: under the Fair Labor Standards Act, you must receive your full salary for any week in which you perform any work at all, even one email, though the employer can offset by the jury fee you received. No work at all that week, no salary owed.
Run the math on a typical week. You earn $200 a day at a company with 50 employees, and you serve five days. Days 1 through 3, your employer owes you $72 a day, $216 total, because your wage exceeds the fee. Days 4 and 5, the state pays you $72 a day, another $144. Your employer voluntarily continues your salary on some policies, but is not required to. Court pay for the week: $360. Lost wages against the $200 a day: $1,000. The raise closed the gap from catastrophic to merely bad. For a retiree or someone between jobs, $360 for a week of service is real money. For an hourly worker, the financial hardship math still bites, which is why New York allows financial hardship excuses.
The 10-employee line is the oddest part of the law, and worth a paragraph. At 11 employees, the employer owes three days of jury wages. At 10, the state picks up the whole tab and the employer owes nothing. There is no phase-in. If you work for a 9-person shop, your employer has zero obligation and the state pays you directly. That cliff creates a strange incentive: small businesses get a free ride, large employers subsidize the first three days, and the juror's take-home is the same $72 either way. I cannot find a policy justification for the cliff in the legislative history. It reads like a small-business exemption that survived intact, and the line looks arbitrary.
Two practical steps before your service date. First, check your employee handbook: many New York employers voluntarily continue full wages through jury service, and you will not know unless you look. Second, notify your employer as soon as the summons arrives and keep a copy of the summons. The job protection is strong, retaliation is criminal contempt, but the paperwork is what makes the protection real. And ignore the stale court webpages that still say $40. Several county court sites were never updated after the 2025 increase. The law says $72.
Run your own numbers: the Jury Duty Pay Calculator compares the court stipend against your actual daily wage, state by state.
Frequently asked questions
How much does jury duty pay in New York per day?
$72 per day of physical attendance, up from $40. The increase took effect June 8, 2025, the first raise in decades, under amendments to Judiciary Law sections 519 and 521.
Does my employer have to pay me during jury duty in New York?
If your employer has 11 or more employees, yes, for the first 3 days: they must pay $72 per day or your regular daily wage, whichever is less. Employers with 10 or fewer employees have no pay obligation; the state pays the fee instead.
What if my daily wage is less than $72?
Your employer pays your full daily wage, and the state pays the difference up to $72, so you still receive the full $72 per day. After the third day, the state pays the $72 fee directly to any juror not receiving that much from an employer.
Do I get jury pay if I serve on a day I was not scheduled to work?
Yes, from the state, not your employer. The employer pay obligation only applies to regularly scheduled work days; the state pays the $72 daily fee for service on other days.
Can my employer fire me for jury duty in New York?
No. Employers cannot fire, threaten, or penalize you for serving, and violations are treated as criminal contempt of court. You must notify your employer before service begins.