New York Road Test Fee and How to Pay It

There is no separate charge for your first two road tests in New York. Both attempts are already paid for inside the driver license application fee you handed over when you applied for your learner permit. If you fail both, the next pair of attempts costs $10.00. A commercial driver license road test works differently and costs $40.00 per single attempt.

That is the whole answer for most people holding a Class D, DJ, E, M, or MJ permit. The complication is that the application fee itself ranges from $64.25 to $120.00 depending on your age, your license class, and whether you live in New York City or another downstate county. Below is the full breakdown, plus the exact steps for paying a retest fee online through MyDMV if you have already used up your two free attempts.

New York Road Test Fee for a Non-Commercial License

The DMV does not bill the road test as its own line item. It bundles the cost of two attempts into the application fee, which is why the schedule below looks so short.

Road test attempt	Fee
First two attempts, non-commercial	Included in the driver license application fee
Each additional two attempts	$10.00
CDL, single test	$40.00

Two details trip people up. First, the $10.00 buys you two more tests, not one, and there is no refund if you only use one of them. Second, the fee has nothing to do with where you test. A road test at a Brooklyn site costs exactly what a road test in Buffalo costs, even though the wait for an appointment is very different.

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What the New York Driver License Application Fee Covers

Your application fee is a package payment, which is the reason the road test feels free when you show up for it.

That single charge covers issuance of your learner permit, the written knowledge test, the vision screening, two road test attempts, DMV processing, and the document fees attached to your file. The DMV builds the total from four parts: the application fee, the fee for your license class, document fees, and the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District surcharge if you live in the district.

So the road test is not free. It is prepaid. You only see a new charge on your third attempt, and even then it is small compared to what a repeat test costs you in lesson time and car rental. Anyone hoping to skip the test entirely should read our breakdown of whether you can get a New York license without a road test before making plans around it.

New York Driver License Application Fee by Age and License Class

How much you pay depends on your exact age on the day you apply, the class of license you want, and your county of residence. The range runs from $64.25 for an adult Class D applicant outside the MCTD up to $120.00 for a Class E applicant in New York City.

In the table below, the first figure excludes the MCTD fee and the second figure includes it.

Applicant's age	Class D or DJ	Class E	Class M or MJ
16 to 16½	$80.00 / $90.00	Not available	$85.00 / $95.00
16½ to 17	$76.75 / $85.75	Not available	$81.25 / $90.25
17 to 17½	$92.50 / $102.50	Not available	$97.50 / $107.50
17½ to 18	$89.25 / $98.25	Not available	$93.75 / $102.75
18 to 18½	$80.00 / $90.00	$110.00 / $120.00	$85.00 / $95.00
18½ to 21	$76.75 to $80.00 / $85.75 to $90.00	$103.75 to $110.00 / $112.75 to $120.00	$81.25 to $85.00 / $90.25 to $95.00
21 and older	$64.25 to $67.50 / $73.25 to $77.50	$91.25 to $97.50 / $100.25 to $107.25	$68.75 to $72.50 / $77.75 to $82.50

Class E, the license you need for taxi, livery, and light truck work, is not issued before age 18, which is why the first four rows are blank. Part of every Class M and MJ fee goes to the state Motorcycle Safety Program.

The figures above do not cover commercial driver licenses, non-driver ID cards, or the extra $30.00 for an Enhanced Driver License. They are current as of August 2026, and the DMV fee schedule is the only source worth trusting if you are checking a year from now. Adults applying for the first time will find the full sequence laid out in our guide to getting a driver's license after 18.

Additional New York DMV Fees You May Pay Separately

• Replacement driver license or learner permit: $17.50
• Amending information on a license or permit: $12.50
• Enhanced Driver License or Enhanced Permit: $30.00 on top of the standard fee

MCTD Fee for New York City and Downstate Residents

Residents of twelve counties pay a Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District surcharge on every permit and license. If you live in the five boroughs, this applies to you automatically.

The counties are Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester.

The rate is $1.00 for every six months the document will be in effect. On a first application that usually adds $9.00 or $10.00 to your total, which is the gap you see between the two figures in each cell of the table above. It is not a road test fee and it does not change based on how many attempts you take.

Cost of Retaking the New York Road Test After Two Failed Attempts

Once you have used both included attempts, you pay $10.00 for the next two. There is no cap on how many times you can retest, but every pair of attempts costs another $10.00.

Two rules matter here. There is no refund if you pay for two tests and only take one, so do not pay until you are reasonably sure you can make both appointments. And your learner permit stays valid after a failure, right up to its expiration date. If the permit expires before your next scheduled test, you have to apply for a new one at full price, which turns a $10.00 problem into an $80.00 one.

The realistic cost of a third attempt is rarely the $10.00. It is the car you have to book again and the lesson you take beforehand. Students who fail twice usually fail on the same two or three habits, and fixing those is cheaper than repeating the cycle. Our instructors break down the most common failure points in how to pass the road test in NYC.

CDL Road Test Fee in New York

Commercial licensing does not follow the same model. A CDL road test costs $40.00 for a single attempt, with no included tests bundled into the application. Class A, B, and C applicants pay each time they test.

Drivers between 18 and 20 who already hold a New York license can pursue a Class A CDL through the state's Young Adult Training Program. Everything else in this article applies to non-commercial licensing.

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How to Pay the New York Road Test Fee Online

You pay additional road test fees through MyDMV on the DMV's Schedule and Take a Road Test page, using a credit or debit card. The system will not let you book a third attempt until the fee is on file.

1. Open the Schedule and Take a Road Test page on dmv.ny.gov.
2. Sign in with your NY.gov ID, or create one if this is your first time using MyDMV.
3. Enter your Client Identification Number (CID) from your learner permit, your document number, your date of birth, and the ZIP code of the test site you want.
4. Select the option to pay for additional tests and confirm the $10.00 charge.
5. Pay by card and save the confirmation before you leave the page.

One constraint catches people out: you cannot hold two road test appointments at the same time. To move a scheduled test, cancel the existing appointment first, then search for a new date. Appointment inventory in the city moves fast, so pay and book in the same sitting rather than coming back later. If you are trying to compress the wait, we have written up the tactics that actually work in how to schedule a road test faster.

Information You Need Before You Pay

• Client Identification Number (CID)
• Document number from your permit
• Date of birth
• ZIP code of the test site you want

Your CID is printed on the front of your photo learner permit, above your name. It stays the same across your permit and your eventual license, so it is worth saving somewhere. The document number is a separate string tied to that specific card and changes if you replace the permit. The step-by-step booking flow, including how to read the ZIP code search results, is covered in our guide to scheduling a New York road test.

How to Pay the Road Test Fee by Phone

If MyDMV is giving you trouble, the DMV takes payment by phone at 518-402-2100. That is the same number you should call on the morning of your test to check for cancellations, closings, and delays, since road tests get relocated or scrapped for weather and construction more often than most applicants expect.

Payment Methods the New York DMV Accepts

Where you pay	Accepted methods
At a DMV office	American Express, Discover Card/Novus, MasterCard, VISA, prepaid cards, debit cards that do not require a PIN, cash, personal check or money order payable to Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
By mail	Personal check or money order only, certified check for certain transactions, never cash
Online	American Express, Discover Card/Novus, MasterCard, VISA, prepaid cards, debit cards that do not require a PIN

At a DMV office you can split a payment between cash and check if you are short on one. By mail, always include the transaction application with your payment, and never send cash.

Why Some Pages Say the New York Road Test Fee Is $10

You will still find pages, including older DMV wording that has been copied across dozens of driving school blogs and forum threads, stating that the fee for up to two road tests is included in your $10.00 driver license application fee. That sentence is outdated.

The real application fee runs from $64.25 to $120.00, as published on the DMV's fee schedule. The $10.00 figure is the charge for additional attempts after your first two. When two official pages disagree, go with the fee table, and expect the office to quote you the higher number.

Total Cost of Getting a Driver License in New York

The test itself is prepaid, but the full path from permit to license typically runs $200 to $350 in New York City, depending on how many lessons you take and whether you need to rent a car for the exam.

Cost item	Typical range	Required
Driver license application fee	$64.25 to $120.00	Yes
5-hour pre-licensing course	$45 to $80	Yes
Road test car rental	$40 to $200	Only if you have no vehicle
Driving lessons	$40 to $60 per hour	No
Additional road test attempts	$10.00 per two tests	Only after two failures

If you own a car that passes inspection and you have a licensed adult willing to sit through the appointment, two of those five rows disappear and your total drops close to $150. Most city applicants do not have both, which is why the rental line dominates the budget.

Cost of the 5-Hour Pre-Licensing Course

The course is mandatory and costs $45 to $80. You cannot book a road test without an original, unexpired Pre-Licensing Course Certificate (MV-278) or a Student Certificate of Completion (MV-285) from a high school driver education program.

Online sessions sit at the lower end of that range and in-person or Zoom classes at the higher end. The certificate itself is identical either way, and examiners will not accept a photocopy on test day. You can register for our 5-hour pre-licensing course and get the certificate the same day you finish.

Road Test Car Rental Cost in New York City

Advertised rental prices start around $40, but the real number in the five boroughs lands between $100 and $200 once you account for what the booking actually includes.

The reason is geography. A Brooklyn student assigned to a Staten Island test site is buying roughly two hours of an instructor's day, plus bridge tolls, plus the 45-minute warm-up lesson that nearly every school builds into the package. Compare that to a round trip by rideshare and the pricing looks less aggressive than it first appears.

The car also has to satisfy the examiner, not just get you there. Our page on renting a car for the road test explains what Coreway includes, and if you plan to bring a friend's vehicle instead, check it against the requirements for a driving test car first. A failed pre-trip inspection burns the attempt before you turn the key.

When the New York DMV Refunds a License Fee

Road test fees are never refunded. The DMV does issue partial refunds on the eight-year license fee, but only under four conditions.

• The license was issued with an eight-year validity period
• You surrendered it to New York or to another state within the first four years
• It was not suspended or revoked at the time you surrendered it
• It was not exchanged for a non-driver ID card

The maximum refund is 50 percent, or four years of the original fee, and it excludes application and document fees. Apply within 51 months of the issue date using form MV-215, and allow up to 12 weeks for processing. If you moved out of state, attach a photocopy of your new out-of-state license to the form.

What You Must Bring to a New York Road Test

Show up missing one item and the examiner cancels the test. That cancellation burns a paid attempt, so this checklist is part of the cost conversation, not separate from it.

• Your photo learner permit
• The original MV-278 or MV-285 certificate, photocopies are not accepted
• Form MV-262, Certification of Supervised Driving, if you are under 18, handed over at every attempt
• Glasses or contacts if your permit requires corrective lenses
• A licensed driver age 21 or older who can legally operate the test vehicle
• A vehicle with valid registration and inspection, in clean and working condition

Arrive up to 30 minutes early. If you are late, the examiner may reschedule you, and that is another appointment gone in a city where the next opening can be six weeks out. Knowing the sequence of the exam helps too, since a surprising number of failures happen in the first two minutes at the curb. Our walkthrough of what to expect on the driver's test covers it from the examiner's side.

How Soon You Can Retake the New York Road Test

You must wait at least 14 days after a failed attempt before testing again. The DMV's Schedule and Take a Road Test page states it plainly, and the same minimum applies to every retake. In practice the real limit is appointment availability, since the next open slot in the city usually lands well beyond two weeks anyway.

Applicants under 18 face a different clock: you cannot schedule a first road test until six months after your learner permit was issued, and you need 50 hours of supervised practice, including 15 hours after sunset, certified by a parent or guardian on form MV-262.

You will see claims online that New York only makes you wait one day, or seven, between attempts. Those figures are outdated, and an appointment inside the 14-day window is a wasted slot. One useful piece of flexibility: you do not have to test in the region where you live, and searching a different ZIP code often surfaces a much earlier date. We cover the timing rules in more depth in how long you have to wait to retake a road test.

Three numbers cover almost every situation: $64.25 to $120.00 for the application depending on your age and county, $10.00 for each additional pair of road tests, and $40.00 per attempt for a CDL. Add the MCTD surcharge if you live in the five boroughs or a downstate county. Once the fee side is settled, the only variable left is how prepared you are when the examiner gets in the car, and that is the part worth spending money on.

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