I recently received a dreaded jury summons in the mail and fulfilled my civic duty. I reported to jury duty against the advice of several acquaintances who boasted of skipping such assignments. Anecdotally, I’ve never heard of anyone suffering the consequences of doing so.

From a personal finance standpoint, I was especially intrigued at the prospect of getting paid a small amount for this temp work. So I took part in the jury selection process, which lasted two painstaking days. I quickly discovered that jury duty is most definitely not a side hustle.

Juror pay is laughably low

When I say jurors are paid a small amount of money, I mean a very small amount. As in, just enough for you to know that your time is not valued whatsoever. In California, that amount is $15 per day. Yes, per day. The amount varies by state and I discovered several of those amounts on Jury Duty 101 to be outdated, but it ranges from $5 in New Jersey to $50 per day in the cash-flush states of Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts and South Dakota.

Nothing is more insulting than the single-digit day rates that fall below the federal minimum hourly wage. I’m looking at you, Jersey ($5), Missouri ($6) and Texas ($6). In New Mexico, it appears that the state deliberately pays its hourly minimum wage of $7.50 for a full day of jury service (federal minimum wage is $7.25). Again, this is typically for a full eight-hour day of service, not an hourly rate.

How do states arrive at such figures? The answer varies, but the common theme is that they did so a long time ago. Back when even a $5 slap-in-the-face could buy you a round of cold malt beverages from the soda shop. In most cases, these numbers have remained the same, inflation and cost-of-living be damned, for decades. California’s rate hasn’t increased in 20 years. In Washington state, the $10 rate (plus parking or bus fare), has remained for more than 60 years.

Illinois juror Cheyenne Murphy accurately summed up the feeling of jurors in this piece from the Chicago Tribune six years ago:

“It’s like, ‘Here, let me give you $17 to sit in a room all day as if you don’t have nothing better to do.’ My time is worth more than $17,” said Murphy, 63, on Thursday in the cafeteria of the Leighton Criminal Court Building. “It’s ridiculous.”

I feel ya, Cheyenne. While money is obviously not the main reason to participate in a jury, it is nonetheless provided by the state as compensation. At such low rates it should be viewed as more of a lunch per diem than a stipend for your participation. The problem with that is that it doesn’t even cover a meal in most states.

Why does jury duty pay so little?

Since this compensation is generally not referred to as a per diem, I’m led to assume the payment is provided for services rendered. A $50 daily juror rate feels like the minimum threshold for feeling as if your time is valued. Instead, $50 is the maximum amount offered among the states. I would almost prefer not to be compensated at all to remove all pretense to the contrary. As it happens, $50 is the rate at the federal level, but most individual states think even less of their prospective jurors.

Adding further insult to in-jury, juror pay is considered taxable income. Which means that in reality, you are being paid even less than the stated amount. That’s one more W-2 to worry about come tax time. But hey, I get it. Why wouldn’t the government take a cut of the money that the government is providing its citizens for performing what the government considers a civic obligation? 

Instead of making money for your service, you’ll most likely suffer lost wages as a result. In most states, you will not be paid by your employer—and definitely not by the government—for lost wages while serving as a juror. There are, mercifully, dismissals for jurors whose lost wages would be overly significant. It’s up to the judge to determine that significance.

Employers can’t fire you for being unavailable as a result of jury duty, but they aren’t required to pay you for that time. Nor should they be, really. And in fact, only eight states require employers to pay their employees serving on a jury. Some companies will allow you up to a week or two of jury time, but you’re on your own after that. In a longer trial, those lost wages add up. Five bucks a day from the county coffers just ain’t gonna make up the difference.

For stay-at-home parents, there is no compensation provided for childcare needs that might result, but again it is possible to get a dismissal if the judge has a heart.

So, not only is jury duty not a side hustle, but it hinders your main hustle.   

Zoom trials and tribulations

As annoyed as I was by my two-day experience, it’s no better in pandemic times. Either the trials take place in-person amidst a rapidly spreading virus, or, even worse, via Zoom. This way, jurors don’t even have to leave the house to bear witness to the inefficiency of the judicial proceedings.

From a side hustle standpoint, the Zoom process actually cuts into the bottom line. States reimburse mileage for the usual in-person obligation, which will often end up being more than you’re paid for actually showing up. That’s right, you’re often paid more for your drive to the courthouse than you are for an eight-hour day on the premises.

For the trail-by-jury experience as a whole, my takeaway is that what worked in 1832 probably doesn’t work as well as it could today. If not for Zoom, which would have blown John Marshall’s mind, the entire process certainly feels like something we were doing 200 years ago. The same holds true for the compensation.

Why not incentivize jurors?

So why not incentivize jurors to want to serve as a part of this much-maligned civic duty? If jurors are paid even an hourly minimum wage ($58/day for eight hours using the federal rate), but preferably some larger amount of say $100/day, wouldn’t you have a slightly different reaction to receiving a summons in the mail? If a four-week trial amounted to an extra (but taxable) $2,000 in your pocket, wouldn’t you be a little more excited about participating in this time-honored tradition in the US of A? instead it’s a major inconvenience that pits you as another cog in the inefficient machine of an antiquated system.

Perhaps willing jurors could even opt-in to be called on more than one occasion, removing the burden from others who’d still prefer to avoid the disruption in their daily lives (and salaries).  

As for the matter of who actually pays for this increase in juror compensation, well, we do. As taxpayers. But there needn’t be a special tax hike to improve juror pay. It’s incumbent on the government to amend this budget item that has been largely ignored for decades in most states. Absent a hike in pay, why not provide an appealing tax break of some sort for those who served? particularly for cases that beyond a day or two.

If none of that is possible, then at the very least our court system should mail handwritten thank you cards. Any sort of validation for jury service would be a welcome change.

The jury duty side hustle dream is dead

Unfortunately, as it stands, jury duty is most definitely not a side hustle opportunity. Quite the contrary, as a lengthy trial will almost certainly result in lost wages. More importantly, it amounts in lost time. The opportunity cost is the real killer. Even a crappy survey site will net you better results.

I’m not advising you to ignore your next jury summons. I’m merely suggesting it in a non-legally culpable manner. Otherwise, prepare yourself for an unfulfilling and low-paying experience. And start looking elsewhere for your next side hustle.