NYC delivery app fees: what the new city data shows

On October 21, 2026, New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) published its latest report on the delivery worker minimum pay rate, together with a press release. Most coverage is about worker pay. For restaurant operators, though, the appendix matters more. It has an unusually detailed public breakdown of third-party delivery economics: what the average order costs, what the apps take from the restaurant, what they charge the customer, and how many deliveries a courier completes in an hour.

This article turns those figures into benchmarks you can check against your own delivery numbers, whether you sell through the apps, run your own drivers, or do both.

What the report says

DCWP compares app data from the third quarter of 2023, the last quarter before the minimum pay rule took effect, with the second quarter of 2026. For restaurant delivery apps in New York City, the report's Appendix A shows the following:

Over the same period, weekly restaurant deliveries rose 29%, from 2.63 million to 3.39 million, and weekly consumer spending rose 46%, from $102.5 million to $149.6 million. The courier side changed too. Deliveries per hour worked rose from 1.41 to 2.36. Trip time went from 44% of couriers' working hours to 78%, and on-call hours (time spent connected and waiting for an offer) fell 70%.

The minimum pay rate is now $22.13 per hour before tips. It took effect with the first pay period on or after April 1, 2026, and it is adjusted for inflation every year. The report says every app has chosen the "standard method," which pays for both trip time and on-call time. The apps then hold down costs by limiting on-call time: shifts are scheduled in advance, only as many workers as demand needs are let online, and workers who decline offers are penalized.

The report also covers enforcement. The largest action is a $131.5 million consent order with DoorDash, announced September 22, 2026, which resolves DCWP's allegations, based on its investigation, that DoorDash failed to pay, or paid late, workers who had done the work. According to the Associated Press, DoorDash blamed many of the errors on "technical bugs" and complicated deliveries, and said: "Simply put, we screwed up."

Why a New York report matters outside New York

Most restaurants never see aggregated platform data. Your app statements show your own fees, but not what the average restaurant pays or what customers are charged on top. DCWP's figures come from reports the city requires apps to file, so they make a reasonable benchmark even in other cities. Two points stand out:

• Customers now pay more in fees than restaurants do. In 2023 the two were close ($4.92 from the customer, $5.14 from the restaurant). In 2026 the customer pays $8.69 and the restaurant pays $5.95. Your menu price is now a smaller share of what the customer pays at checkout.
• Waiting at your counter is paid courier time. In DCWP's FAQ, trip time starts when a worker accepts an offer and includes "selecting, preparing, assembling, waiting for, picking up, and travel." Since enforcement began in December 2023, the apps have cut on-call hours (time couriers are connected but idle) by 70%. The report does not measure pickup waits, but under this definition any minutes a courier spends waiting at your counter are paid trip time.

Worked example: one average NYC app order

All inputs below are the Q2 2026 averages from Appendix A. The arithmetic is ours.

• The customer pays $44.19. That is the $30.51 subtotal plus $13.68 in fees, tip and tax.
• The restaurant keeps $24.56 of the subtotal after the $5.95 merchant fee. Food, packaging and labor all come out of that.
• The app collects $14.64 in fees for the delivery: $5.95 from the merchant plus $8.69 from the consumer.
• Courier pay averages about $9.15 per delivery, before the $2.28 tip. That figure is $30.97 million in weekly pay divided by 3.39 million deliveries.

Now the counter. At $22.13 an hour, a minute of trip time costs about $0.37 in pay. A courier who waits 5 minutes for a bag costs the app about $1.84. At 10 minutes, it costs about $3.69. That is not a fee charged to you, and the report says nothing about how apps treat slow pickups. What it does show is that the apps are paying close attention to time.

Decision table: is your own fleet competitive?

The 2.36 deliveries per hour figure is a useful yardstick if you run your own drivers. Your labor cost per delivery is the driver's hourly cost divided by deliveries per hour. The table uses a $20 per hour all-in driver cost purely as an example. Put in your own wage, payroll taxes and mileage reimbursement.

Compare the result with the $5.95 average merchant fee, and remember that the app also charges your customer $8.69. If you deliver yourself, decide how much of the cost goes into a delivery fee and how much into menu prices. That choice is yours, not the platform's.

Checklist for the next 30 days

1. Pull your merchant fee per delivery. Divide last month's total app fees by app delivery orders and compare the result with $5.95 and 19.5% of subtotal. If yours is higher, ask which plan tier you are on.
2. Time your handoff. For one week, log when couriers arrive and when they leave with the bag. Anything over a few minutes points to a ticket timing or staging problem.
3. Stage app orders. Use a dedicated pickup shelf, sealed and labeled bags, and the order name or number facing out, so the courier never has to ask a cook.
4. Measure deliveries per driver-hour if you have drivers. Track it by daypart, not as a single daily average.
5. Schedule drivers to demand. The NYC apps cut on-call hours 70%, partly by requiring shifts to be scheduled in advance and letting only as many couriers online as demand needs. A small fleet can do the same: stagger start times, and send a driver home when the queue is empty for a set period.
6. Batch by zone. Two orders heading the same way usually take less driver time than two separate runs. Set zones and hold times you can actually meet.
7. NYC restaurants: brief staff on bathroom access. According to DCWP, delivery workers "must be allowed to use the bathroom at most pickup locations in New York City," subject to exceptions. Some may show DCWP's bathroom access card, on a phone or printed.

If your drivers are dispatched from KwickPOS, KwickSpot's delivery analytics show average delivery times, driver performance and peak-hour patterns, which can help with steps 4 and 5.

What to watch

The NYC rate is adjusted for inflation every year, effective April 1. DCWP says it will set a minimum pay rate for all delivery apps in early 2027. Its report says the law requires a standard covering all other contracted delivery workers by March 2027. Under the DoorDash consent order, DoorDash must submit detailed data reports to DCWP every month for three years, which DCWP will use to audit its compliance. If you operate elsewhere, check whether your city or state has its own app-worker pay rules. The NYC figures are a benchmark, not a forecast for your market.

Frequently asked questions

What do restaurants pay delivery apps in New York City on average?

According to DCWP's October 2026 report, merchant fees on NYC restaurant delivery apps averaged $5.95 per delivery in Q2 2026. That was 19.5% of the order subtotal, up from $5.14 and 18.6% in Q3 2023.

Does the time a courier waits at my restaurant count as paid time in NYC?

Yes. DCWP's FAQ says trip time begins when a worker accepts an offer and includes "selecting, preparing, assembling, waiting for, picking up, and travel." At the $22.13 hourly minimum, that comes to about $0.37 per minute of waiting, which the app pays.

How many deliveries per hour do NYC app couriers complete?

According to DCWP data, 2.36 deliveries per hour worked in Q2 2026, up from 1.41 in Q3 2023. That is a useful benchmark for checking how productive in-house drivers are.

What is the current NYC minimum pay rate for app delivery workers?

$22.13 per hour before tips, effective with the first pay period on or after April 1, 2026. It is adjusted for inflation every year, and DCWP says it will set a minimum pay rate for all delivery apps in early 2027.

What was the DoorDash settlement with New York City about?

On September 22, 2026, the city announced a $131.5 million consent order with DoorDash resolving DCWP's allegations of unpaid and late pay and of minimum pay rule violations. DoorDash blamed many of the errors on technical bugs and complicated deliveries, and said, "Simply put, we screwed up."

Sources

• NYC Delivery Workers: An Update on the Minimum Pay Rate (October 2026), NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, 2026-10
• Report Finds NYC Delivery Worker Minimum Pay Rate Increased Earnings by More Than $2 Billion, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, 2026-10-21
• Minimum Pay Rate for Delivery Workers, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
• Food Delivery Worker Laws: Frequently Asked Questions, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
• Delivery Workers (workers' rights page), NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
• DoorDash to pay $131M for underpaying delivery workers in New York City, The Associated Press (via WCAX), 2026-09-22

Checked November 3, 2026. Photo: Jan van der Wolf / Pexels.