NYC Food Delivery Workers to Earn Minimum Wage: $17.96, Plus Tips

By Yehudit Garmaise

New York City's tens of thousands of food delivery workers’ basic salaries will increase from $15 to $17.96 per hour, plus tips, announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday.

By 2025, New York’s food service delivery workers will make at least $19.96 an hour, NYC’s City Council decided.

Although the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections (DCWP) proposed $23.82 a minimum hourly rate for food service delivery workers back in November 2022, Gustavo Ajche, who is a part of Los Deliveristas Unidos, an organization that advocates for this industry, said the mayor’s announcement yesterday made for “a really good Sunday,” Gothamist reported.

“To get to this moment is something huge for us,” said Ajche. “This is going to be a huge change for the lives of 65,000 delivery workers across New York City who have never seen a minimum pay. We’re so happy!”

The DCWP will monitor whether restaurants and food service apps honor the city’s new minimum wage for delivery workers.

Unsurprisingly, Uber and DoorDash are not happy about the city’s new legislation to pay their drivers more per hour.

Delivery companies argued the new pay rate will result in reduced service when the increase in the minimum wage forces food service companies to raise prices and lay off some workers. 

Not only will fewer drivers be available to meet customers’ needs, but if food delivery prices rise and fewer drivers are employed, customers could be less inclined to tip.