The 2026 Base Attendance Fee
If you receive a summons for a US District Court, you are entitled to a standard daily attendance fee. For 2026, that rate is set at $50 per day. This is paid to you whether you are seated on a jury or just sitting in the waiting room to be questioned.
The Extended Service Clause
Federal trials can drag on for weeks. To prevent total financial ruin for jurors, the federal system has a built-in pay bump. If you serve on a petit (trial) jury for more than 10 days, or a grand jury for more than 45 days, the judge can increase your pay to $60 per day for the remainder of your service.
Federal vs. State Comparison
To put this in perspective, $50 a day is roughly five times what states like Pennsylvania or Texas pay for the first day of service. While $50 still doesn't replace a $70,000 salary, it softens the blow significantly, especially when combined with the federal government's generous mileage and parking reimbursements.