Process Server Cost Calculator
Service of process cost from location and attempts.
About this calculator
Process server pricing starts with a base fee set by how urgently and how carefully the service needs to happen: $65 for routine service (typically 3-5 days), $110 for rush/same-day service, or $200 for difficult or stakeout cases where the person is actively avoiding service. That base fee covers the first attempt only — every attempt after the first adds $35, so a case that needs five tries to catch someone at home costs meaningfully more than the quoted base. Distance is priced in steps rather than a straight per-mile rate: trips over 15 miles add a flat $25, trips over 30 miles add a flat $50, and only beyond 50 miles does the calculator switch to a genuine per-mile charge of $0.655 (the IRS mileage rate) on top of a $75 floor — so the fee doesn't scale smoothly with distance, it jumps at each threshold.
Needing to locate someone before you can even attempt service (a "skip trace") adds a flat $150, and serving more than one document set at the same address and same visit adds only $20 per additional set rather than a full second service fee. A flat $15 filing fee for the affidavit of service is added regardless of case complexity. The calculator also estimates a timeline — 5 days for routine, 1 day for rush, 10 days for difficult/stakeout — and a cost-per-document figure that's most useful when serving several parties at one address, since it shows how much the shared attempt and travel costs get diluted across documents.
Inputs
Results
Total Cost ($)
$150.00
≈ 10 movie tickets
How to Use This Calculator
- Select the Service Type from the dropdown: Routine (3-5 days), Rush (same/next day), or Difficult/Stakeout.
- Enter the expected number of service attempts and one-way distance to the service location.
- Toggle skip trace (1) if the respondent's address must be located.
- Input the number of document sets to serve at the same address.
- Review total cost broken down into base fee, additional attempts, distance, skip trace, and filing fees.
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What each input means
- Service Type
- Sets the base service fee and estimated timeline.
- Serve Attempts
- Expected number of attempts. First attempt included in base fee.
- Distance (miles)
- One-way distance to service location.
- Skip Trace? (0/1)
- 1 = need to locate the person's address.
- Document Sets
- Number of document sets to serve at the same address.
What each result means
- Total Cost ($)
- Complete process serving cost.
- Base Service Fee ($)
- Fee for first attempt.
- Extra Attempts ($)
- Cost for attempts beyond the first.
- Distance Fee ($)
- Travel surcharge for distant locations.
- Skip Trace Fee ($)
- Fee to locate person's current address.
- Filing Fee ($)
- Affidavit of service filing.
- Estimated Timeline (days)
- Expected days to complete service.
- Cost per Document ($)
- Average cost per document served.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersService Type (1-3) = 1, Serve Attempts = 3, Distance (miles) = 10, Skip Trace? (0/1) = 0 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total CostTotal Cost = baseFee + additionalAttemptFee + distanceFee + skipTraceFee + additionalDocFe...150 = $150
- Calculate Base Service Fee65 = $65
- Calculate Extra AttemptsExtra Attempts = (attemptsNeeded - 1) * 3570 = $70
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the distance fee jump in steps instead of scaling smoothly with mileage?
The calculator uses three fixed thresholds rather than a per-mile rate for shorter trips: a flat $25 once you pass 15 miles, a flat $50 once you pass 30 miles, and only past 50 miles does it switch to a real per-mile charge of $0.655 on top of a $75 floor. That means a 16-mile trip and a 29-mile trip cost the same $25, while crossing from 29 to 31 miles jumps the fee from $25 to $50.
Does the base fee already include multiple attempts to serve someone?
No — the base fee ($65, $110, or $200 depending on service type) covers only the first attempt. Every attempt after that adds a flat $35, so if you expect the respondent to be hard to catch at home, entering a higher attempts count will meaningfully raise the total beyond the quoted base.
Is the skip trace fee instead of the base service fee, or added to it?
It's added. Skip tracing (locating someone's current address before you can even attempt service) adds a flat $150 on top of the base service fee, attempt charges, and everything else — it doesn't replace any other line item in the total.
Why is each additional document set so much cheaper than a second full service?
Serving more than one document set at the same address during the same visit only adds $20 per additional set, rather than a full second base fee, since the server is already there and only needs to hand over more paperwork. This is why cost-per-document drops noticeably when several parties are served at one address in one trip.
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