Geographical Region

• Process servers' incomes vary by state as well as from metropolitan to rural areas. According to ProcessServers.com, a routine process service costs between $35 and $100, with one of the factors being the typical charges for that region. According to PayScale, as of March 2011 the average annual salary for a process server in California is between $18,000 and $50,000; in New York, between $31,200 and $65,000; and in Georgia, between $30,521 and $49,132.
  
  

Years of Experience

• A process server's years of experience and successful track record also affect his income. For March 2011, SalaryExpert reports that a process server with one year or less of experience earns an average annual salary of $35,000; one to four years, $48,000; five to nine years, $57,600; 10 to 19 years, $70,000; and more than 20 years, $84,000. In comparison, PayScale reveals servers with less than one year of experience earn between $18,151 and $30,837.
  
  

Difficult Services

• Some process servers earn a reputation for "difficult services," meaning certain facets of the service are demanding or onerous. Examples of difficult services are subjects who actively avoid service, subjects who erect barriers to process servers' entries, mentally unstable or chemically impaired subjects, or subjects who disappear and are difficult to locate. Process servers typically increase their rates, sometimes substantially, to complete such services. They might also charge additional investigative fees for conducting location searches and surveillances.
  
  

Investigative Tasks

• Because process servers often conduct investigative tasks, it's not uncommon for them to eventually build a private investigations business as well. Therefore, when a process server researches a person's whereabouts, also called "skip tracing," retrieves court records or conducts surveillances or other services that fall under the category of investigations, the server charges rates comparable to private investigators in the region. According to Salary.com, as of March 2011, the average annual salary for a private investigator is $41,200.