NYC raised delivery pay. It locked out over 42k workers.
Since 2020, more than a dozen laws turned the city’s delivery market into a managed roster. Active couriers earn 86% more per hour. Tens of thousands sit on waitlists. Consumers pay on average $416 more a year. Before any other city copies this model, the full tradeoff has to be on the table.
See the TradeoffPay Rose. Access Closed.
The wage floor worked as designed. Hourly pay nearly doubled for active couriers. But platforms absorbed the cost by doing more with less, concentrating work among fewer workers and shutting access to thousands more.
Total hourly earnings climbed from $13.40 to $24.03. Base pay surged from $7.08 to $21.04. Workers active on the platforms saw real, durable gains.
According to NYC’s own data†, over 42,000 workers are now locked out of delivery work. Platforms capped log-ins, tightened scheduling, and closed access to thousands of workers who relied on flexible entry. Part-time and supplemental income workers likely absorbed almost all of that loss.
† NYC DCWP Data, Q1 2022 to Q2 2025 total workers
Productivity climbed +58% per worker per hour. Idle time collapsed by 66%. Total deliveries kept growing, up +30% across the period. The market did not shrink. It restructured around a smaller, busier core.
SourceKaitlyn Harger, Ph.D., Chamber of Progress analysis of NYC DCWP quarterly delivery data, Q1 2022 to Q2 2025.
This is what
42,000+
looks like.
Each dot is one worker locked out of NYC delivery work.
Source: NYC DCWP Data, Q1 2022 to Q2 2025 total workers.
Two Tiers,
And a Cost to Consumers.
The wage floor created a clear divide: workers who got in earn substantially more, workers who didn’t got pushed out, and consumers picked up part of the cost.
Part-time, supplemental, flexible. Now closed off.
Platforms responded to higher labor costs by restricting access. Workers who relied on intermittent log-ins, supplemental income, or flexible hours have effectively been pushed out of the market. The flexibility that defined platform work is what the new system constrains.
Real Gains.
Workers who secured a spot earn substantially more. Predictable platform-paid pay replaced dependence on tips. For high-volume couriers, the policy is a clear win.
Higher Fees.
Average fees rose from $4.05 to $6.98 per delivery. Grocery delivery fees jumped sharply when rules expanded in January 2026.
Not a Gap.
A Stack.
Since 2020, New York City has enacted 17 laws and agency rules covering pay, pricing, transparency, safety, and data reporting. Before any city adds another layer, here’s what’s already on the books.
Restaurant Platform Rules
- 2020Per-order fee cap (15%) on platforms
- 2020Total fee cap (20%); telephone disclosure required
- 2020Listing without restaurant consent prohibited
- 2021Fee caps made permanent; app licensing required
Worker Transparency
- 2021Tip disclosure before workers accept deliveries
- 2021Distance and pay shown before acceptance
- 2021DCWP directed to set minimum pay standard
- 2021Insulated bags required at no cost; civil penalties
Wage Floor & Expansion
- 2023Minimum pay standard phased in starting July
- 2025Full rate reaches $21.44/hr (excluding tips)
- 2026Deactivation protections proposed
- 2026Pay standard extended to grocery delivery
From Pickup Game to Starting Lineup
The full paper examines every dimension of how New York City’s wage floor laws reshaped the delivery market, what Seattle’s parallel experiment reveals, and what policymakers in other cities should weigh before borrowing the model.
