How much is a parking ticket for an expired meter?

In the 50 largest U.S. cities, an expired-meter ticket costs $15 to $101. The median of each city's top meter fine is $42 across the 30 cities that publish one, as of Nov 6, 2026.

What happens if I pay a parking ticket late?

21 of the 50 largest cities publish a late penalty on their official fine schedule, and the fastest add it after 14 days. Pay or contest a ticket by the date printed on it.

How much is a ticket for parking in a disabled space?

Parking in a disabled space without a placard is the most expensive common ticket: a median $287.50 across 26 of the largest cities, and $645 in Arlington, TX.

Why doesn't my city show a fine amount?

17 of the 50 largest cities publish no fine amounts on an official city page. Park Graph lists only amounts from official city, municipal code, court and parking authority pages, never news stories or estimates, so those cities show no amount.

Where do these parking ticket fines come from?

Each amount comes from the city's own fine schedule, linked in the Sources list and in the CSV. Park Graph checked every schedule on Nov 6, 2026. Some schedules are older than others; the oldest is Washington's, dated Apr 1, 1990.

Parking Ticket Fines by City

Data checked Nov 6, 2026 · 173 rows · CC BY 4.0

Download CSV Download JSON Methodology and sources

Key findings

Highest expired-meter fine: San Francisco, CA at $101. Lowest: Jacksonville, FL at $15.
Highest fire hydrant fine: Portland, OR at $155, against a median of $83.50 across 26 cities.
Highest disabled-space fine: Arlington, TX at $645, against a median of $287.50 across 26 cities.
In 9 cities, paying late adds a penalty as large as the fine itself or larger.
33 of the 50 cities publish fine amounts on an official page; 17 publish none.

Parking ticket fines in the 50 largest U.S. cities

33 cities publish fine amounts, largest city first. A range means the city charges different amounts by zone or code section. A city name links to its Park Graph parking page when there is one.

Parking ticket fines by city
City	Expired meter	No parking zone	Street cleaning	Fire hydrant	Double parking	Disabled space	Late penalty
New York, NY	$35–$65	Not listed	$65	$115	$115	$180	Not listed
Los Angeles, CA	$63	$73	$73	$68	$68	$363	$73
Chicago, IL	$50–$70	$75	$60	$150	$100–$250	$250	$100
Houston, TX	$30	$40	Not listed	$105	$40	$500	$100 after 30 days
Phoenix, AZ	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$300	Not listed
Philadelphia, PA	$26–$36	$41–$51	$41–$51	$76	$51–$76	$301	Not listed
San Diego, CA	$53.50–$83.50	$83.50	$83.50	$115.50	$83.50	$451	$104.50
Dallas, TX	$30	$30	Not listed	$110	Not listed	Not listed	$110 after 15 days
Jacksonville, FL	$15	$25	Not listed	$25	Not listed	$250	$10 after 15 days
Fort Worth, TX	$55	$75	Not listed	$120	Not listed	$215	$50 after 21 days
Austin, TX	$50	$35	Not listed	$50	$40	$519	$250
Charlotte, NC	$25	$25	Not listed	$100	Not listed	$100	$25 after 30 days
Columbus, OH	$70	$70	Not listed	$90	$90	$500	$10 after 30 days
San Francisco, CA	$92–$101	$108	$90	$108	$108	$444	$38
Seattle, WA	$69	$69	Not listed	$69	$69	$250	Not listed
Denver, CO	$35	$35	$50	$35	$35	$350	Not listed
Washington, DC	Not listed	Not listed	$45	$50	$50	$250	$250 after 30 days
El Paso, TX	$25	$55	Not listed	$55	$55	$275	$10 after 30 days
Las Vegas, NV	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$113	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Boston, MA	$40	$55–$90	$40–$90	$100	$35–$55	$120	$40 after 21 days
Detroit, MI	$45	$45	$45	$45	$45	$150	$20 after 30 days
Portland, OR	$44–$65	$85	Not listed	$155	$85	$165	Not listed
Baltimore, MD	$32	$32	Not listed	$77	Not listed	$502	Not listed
Milwaukee, WI	$35	$40	$50–$150	$40	$40	$300	$5 after 14 days
Tucson, AZ	$42	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Sacramento, CA	$60	$60	Not listed	$100	$60	$445	Not listed
Atlanta, GA	$35	$75	Not listed	$75	Not listed	$100	$100 after 14 days
Raleigh, NC	$20	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$20 after 21 days
Omaha, NE	$16–$50	$16	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$20 after 30 days
Miami, FL	$36	$46	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$257	$10 after 30 days
Virginia Beach, VA	$20	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	$20 after 14 days
Oakland, CA	$64	Not listed	$72	Not listed	$110	Not listed	Not listed
Arlington, TX	$42	$40	Not listed	$62	$40	$645	Not listed

Not listed: the city's official schedule has no amount for that violation.

Cities that publish no fine amounts

These 17 cities list no parking fine amounts on an official city page. The page Park Graph checked for each is in the Sources list.

Before you pay a parking ticket

Pay only through the city named on the ticket: its own website, app or office. Fake QR code stickers on parking meters and signs send drivers to look-alike payment pages; see where parking QR code scams have been reported. To compare what parking costs before you get a ticket, see parking meter rates by city.

Methodology

The 50 most populous U.S. cities, by 2024 Census population. For each, Park Graph read the city's own fine schedule for six common violations (expired meter, no parking zone, street cleaning, fire hydrant, double parking and parking in a disabled space without a placard) plus the late penalty. Sources are limited to official city, municipal code, court and parking authority pages: no news articles, aggregators or estimates.

A fine that differs by zone or code section is one row per amount in the data, and a range in the table. Each of the cities without published amounts has one row giving the page checked. The data has 173 rows for 50 cities. Some schedules carry an older date (Detroit 2014; Denver, El Paso and Charlotte 2022); the date each schedule prints is in the CSV. Every schedule was checked on Nov 6, 2026.

Sources

Download the data

U.S. Parking Ticket Fines by City

173 rows, 12 columns

Download CSV Download JSON

Every column, explained

Cite as: Park Graph, "U.S. Parking Ticket Fines by City," version 1, November 6, 2026, https://parkgraph.com/data, CC BY 4.0.

Parking ticket fines FAQ

How much is a parking ticket for an expired meter?: In the 50 largest U.S. cities, an expired-meter ticket costs $15 to $101. The median of each city's top meter fine is $42 across the 30 cities that publish one, as of Nov 6, 2026.
What happens if I pay a parking ticket late?: 21 of the 50 largest cities publish a late penalty on their official fine schedule, and the fastest add it after 14 days. Pay or contest a ticket by the date printed on it.
How much is a ticket for parking in a disabled space?: Parking in a disabled space without a placard is the most expensive common ticket: a median $287.50 across 26 of the largest cities, and $645 in Arlington, TX.
Why doesn't my city show a fine amount?: 17 of the 50 largest cities publish no fine amounts on an official city page. Park Graph lists only amounts from official city, municipal code, court and parking authority pages, never news stories or estimates, so those cities show no amount.
Where do these parking ticket fines come from?: Each amount comes from the city's own fine schedule, linked in the Sources list and in the CSV. Park Graph checked every schedule on Nov 6, 2026. Some schedules are older than others; the oldest is Washington's, dated Apr 1, 1990.