This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for dui / dwi in Florida, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a dui / dwi in Florida costs on average $7,150, typically $4,800-$9,600 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $190 to $360 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-6 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($100-$300) and dmv hearing fee ($100-$200).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $2,100 | $3,650 | $5,200 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,800 | $7,150 | $9,600 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $8,800 | $14,950 | $22,000 | 6-12 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$190 – $360/ hour
Median: $265/hr
3-6 months
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>DUI/DWI legal cost has two layers that are easy to underestimate: the attorney fee itself, and the non-attorney costs that follow a conviction or plea. The attorney fee is driven mainly by whether the case goes to trial (far more hours billed) or resolves through a plea agreement, plus complicating factors like BAC level, prior offenses, or an accident with injuries. Many DUI attorneys charge a flat fee for a straightforward first offense and switch to hourly billing once the case becomes contested.
Beyond the attorney, a DUI case typically layers on court fines, a state-mandated alcohol education or treatment program, license reinstatement fees, and — for many drivers — an ignition interlock device with ongoing monthly costs. Insurance premium increases are not a one-time legal cost but often the largest total expense over a 3-5 year period following conviction, which is why the figures on this page reflect legal defense costs specifically, not the lifetime cost of a conviction.
Take a moderate-complexity dui / dwi matter in Florida. The recorded median total is $7,150, with reported quotes clustering between $4,800 and $9,600. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,200–$3,500, which leaves roughly $3,650–$5,950 of the Florida median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. 2 further recorded fees are not itemised above and are not in that total.
At $7,150, the median dui / dwi cost in Florida runs 3% below the $7,403 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Florida carries 3 rows — simple, $2,100–$5,200 at $145–$290/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,800–$9,600 at $190–$360/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $8,800–$22,000 at $240–$430/hr over 6-12 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$7,150 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,350 above the $4,800 floor, $2,450 under the $9,600 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
Florida occupies the 29th row of 51 for a dui / dwi. Its $7,150 median trails the $7,450 table midpoint by $300, which is 4% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Maine ($7,200) and Montana ($7,150) bracket Florida inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 29th is close to arbitrary.
Maine, Montana, Pennsylvania record medians within three percent of Florida's $7,150. A dui / dwi quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
The two measures nearly agree: 28th of 51 on hourly rate at $265 an hour, 29th on total cost, 1 place apart.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Florida |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Utah | $7,750 | +$600 |
| 24 | Georgia | $7,700 | +$550 |
| 25 | Nevada | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 28 | Maine | $7,200 | +$50 |
| 29 | Florida | $7,150 | — |
| 30 | Montana | $7,150 | −$0 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $6,950 | −$200 |
| 32 | Idaho | $6,850 | −$300 |
| 33 | Ohio | $6,850 | −$300 |
| 34 | Indiana | $6,800 | −$350 |
| 35 | Tennessee | $6,550 | −$600 |
Within ten percent of the Florida figure there are 8 states above and only 5 below. $50 up or $0 down moves Florida a row, which means the ranking has far more room to improve than to slip: the dui / dwi field is dense overhead and sparse underneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Maine and adding $550 to the $7,150 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Montana, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Ohio, Indiana: $350.
$2,650 short of Washington ($9,800), $1,600 clear of South Carolina ($5,550).
The $7,150 median divided by the $265 median rate implies roughly 27 billable hours. That rounds to the same 27 hours as the peer median, so on workload Florida is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex dui / dwi costs 4.1x a simple one in Florida, but the implied workload only rises 2.6x — 17 hours at $215 becomes 45 hours at $335 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.56x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $4,800 to $9,600 the moderate band is $4,800 wide, close to the $5,000 peer median. End to end that is 18 hours at $265.
Per month of elapsed time the two tiers are close: about $1,589 a month across the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate matter, and $1,661 a month across the 6-12 months recorded for a complex one.
Ranked by implied hours rather than money, Florida is 28th of 51 at 27 hours, where cost and rate also put it.
55% up the $4,800–$9,600 band sits the $7,450 table midpoint, buying 28 hours at $265 against the 27 the local dui / dwi median implies — 1 hour apart.
| Measure | Florida | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $7,150 | 29th |
| Hourly median | $265 | 28th |
| Implied hours | 27 | 28th |
| Simple median | $3,650 | 20th |
| Complex median | $14,950 | 35th |
$265 an hour puts Florida between Michigan ($270) and Georgia ($260) — not the dui / dwi cost pairing.
No other tracked state records $265 as its median rate, so the figure identifies Florida on its own within this dataset.
$7,150 buys 33 hours at $215, 27 at $265, 21 at $335.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Maine | $270 |
| 27 | Michigan | $270 |
| 28 | Florida | $265 |
| 29 | Georgia | $260 |
| 30 | Ohio | $255 |
The tiers rank Florida very differently. It is 20th at the simple tier, 29th at moderate, 35th at complex of 51 — a fall of 15 places as the matter becomes harder. The state is expensive to start a dui / dwi in and comparatively ordinary to finish one in.
$3,650 is 20th of 51 on a straightforward dui / dwi, under Pennsylvania ($3,700) and over Illinois ($3,650), $250 over the $3,400 tier midpoint.
$14,950 is 35th of 51 once contested, between North Dakota ($15,250) and Kansas ($14,900), $1,400 off the $16,350 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Florida: the simple tier reaches $5,200 where the moderate tier starts at $4,800, and the moderate tier reaches $9,600 where the complex tier starts at $8,800. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Florida | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $3,650 | 20th | $3,400 | 17 |
| moderate | $7,150 | 29th | $7,450 | 27 |
| complex | $14,950 | 35th | $16,350 | 45 |
$3,650 puts Florida 20th of 51 on straightforward matters, 9 up on its moderate position, and $250 (7%) over the $3,400 tier midpoint.
17 implied hours at $215: 63% of the moderate tier's 27, over 1-3 months.
Pennsylvania ($3,700) and Illinois ($3,650) bracket it — a $50 window.
5 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $3,650, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
$14,950 drops Florida to 35th of 51 on contested matters, 6 below its moderate position and $1,400 (9%) under the $16,350 tier midpoint.
45 implied hours at $335: 167% of the moderate tier's 27, over 6-12 months.
North Dakota ($15,250) and Kansas ($14,900) bracket it — a $350 window.
6 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $14,950, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Michigan | $3,750 |
| 19 | Pennsylvania | $3,700 |
| 20 | Florida | $3,650 |
| 21 | Illinois | $3,650 |
| 22 | Maine | $3,650 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | North Carolina | $15,250 |
| 34 | North Dakota | $15,250 |
| 35 | Florida | $14,950 |
| 36 | Kansas | $14,900 |
| 37 | Wyoming | $14,800 |
$7,150 ranks a dui / dwi 3rd of 8 in Florida, under Divorce, over Personal Injury. At 78% of Criminal Defense ($9,200).
Florida is consistent across practice areas: over the matter types tracked here its rank only moves between 29th (DUI / DWI) and 33rd (Immigration), so its 29th on dui / dwi reflects a general price level rather than something specific to this matter.
The premium Florida carries is close to uniform across practice areas: DUI / DWI runs 4% below its own midpoint and Real Estate Closing runs 12% below its own midpoint, only 8 percentage points apart. Whatever drives the state's price level applies to every matter type here at roughly the same strength.
The largest tracked median in Florida is 5x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
0 of 7 matter types rank Florida in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 7 between; dui / dwi is 29th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 44th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,350 | $9,200 | $29,300 | 32 | 31st | −10% | Indiana |
| Divorce | $2,900 | $8,000 | $22,800 | 28 | 31st | −6% | Missouri |
| DUI / DWI | $3,650 | $7,150 | $14,950 | 27 | 29th | −4% | Maine |
| Personal Injury | $1,500 | $4,550 | $13,800 | — | — | −12% | — |
| Immigration | $1,850 | $4,350 | $11,350 | 16 | 33rd | −8% | Wyoming |
| Bankruptcy | $1,400 | $3,150 | $5,100 | 13 | 31st | −12% | Idaho |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,000 | $1,950 | $4,050 | 8 | 29th | −12% | Arizona |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $550 | $1,850 | $5,950 | 7 | 31st | −11% | Wyoming |
Simple tier. $3,650 ÷ $215 = about 17 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,825 a month. The $3,500 step to the moderate tier is 10 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $7,150 to $14,950 is a $7,800 step, mostly work: 18 more hours at $265 is $4,770, while moving to $335 across 45 hours adds $3,150. Work carries 60%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Montana ($7,150) is $0 light, Maine ($7,200) is $50 heavy — but the $7,450 table midpoint is out by $300, 6x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $4,800 is 18 hours at $265; $9,600 is 36. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate dui / dwi, that is 4 to 8 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Florida's own recorded figures, $14,950 buys 4.1 matters at the $3,650 simple median — or, counted in time, 45 implied hours against 17, a factor of 2.6 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Floridacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.