Restaurant delivery radius and zones: how far to deliver and what to charge
Updated October 20, 2026
Set your delivery area from what one trip costs you, not from how far a driver can go. With your own drivers, each delivery costs the driver's time there and back plus mileage on both legs. In our worked example below (a California wage, the IRS rate of 76¢ a mile, 20 mph average), a trip costs about $5.46 within 1.5 miles, $9.64 at 1.5 to 3 miles, and $15.48 at 3 to 5 miles. So keep your own drivers on a tight inner area, charge more for the outer ring, and either stop there or send far orders to a courier. Drawn zones let you follow real roads and neighborhoods instead of a circle.
In short
- A mile out costs two miles. Mileage and driver time count there and back.
- Cost per trip roughly triples from the inner to the outer zone in the example: $5.46 → $15.48.
- A radius is simple; zones are accurate. Zones follow rivers, highways and neighborhoods, and each can have its own fee.
- Charge by zone or by distance so the far orders pay their way, and add a minimum order.
- Food quality sets a limit too. Longer trips mean colder food: see how to keep delivery food hot.
What does a delivery cost at each distance?
The cost of one trip for your own driver has two parts:
- Driver time: minutes on the road there and back, plus a few minutes at the pass and the door, times the hourly wage plus payroll taxes.
- Mileage: the round-trip miles times the rate you repay. Many restaurants use the IRS business rate, 76¢ a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026.
Worked example: three zones around one restaurant
Assumptions (change them for your area): a driver paid California's $16.90 minimum plus 7.65% employer payroll taxes ($18.19 an hour), an average 20 mph in town, 7 minutes at the pass and the door, mileage at 76¢, one order per trip.
| Zone | Average distance (one way) | Round trip | Minutes per trip | Driver time | Mileage | Cost per trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: inner, up to 1.5 mi | 1.0 mi | 2.0 mi | 13 | $3.94 | $1.52 | $5.46 |
| B: middle, 1.5 to 3 mi | 2.25 mi | 4.5 mi | 20.5 | $6.22 | $3.42 | $9.64 |
| C: outer, 3 to 5 mi | 4.0 mi | 8.0 mi | 31 | $9.40 | $6.08 | $15.48 |
What the numbers say:
- Zone C costs almost three times zone A. A flat $4.99 delivery fee covers most of an inner trip and less than a third of an outer one.
- This is the trip cost only. It doesn't include the time drivers spend waiting between orders, insurance or software. For the full monthly picture, use the own delivery cost calculator.
- Time matters as much as money. A 31-minute trip in zone C means about 12 minutes on the road each way, plus the handover and any wait at the pass.
Should I use a delivery radius or delivery zones?
| Delivery radius | Delivery zones | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A circle: every address within X miles of your store | Shapes you draw on a map, or real neighborhood outlines |
| Best for | A simple start, a grid of streets, an even spread of customers | A river, highway or bridge that makes some close addresses slow to reach; dense neighborhoods you want; areas you don't |
| Pricing | Flat fee, or a fee that grows with distance | Flat fee, by distance, or one fee per zone |
| Weak spot | Distance is a straight line, not the road | Takes a few minutes to draw and keep up to date |
A circle treats an address across a river the same as one down the street, even when the drive is three times longer. If that's your area, draw zones.
How do I set delivery fees by zone?
- Work out the cost per trip for each zone, as in the example above, with your own wage, speed and mileage rate. The delivery fee calculator does this per distance band.
- Decide how much the customer pays. You can cover part of the cost in your menu prices and charge a fee for the rest. In the example, $2.99 / $4.99 / $7.99 by zone is one option, with the outer zone still partly covered by margin.
- Set a minimum order so a small order to zone C doesn't lose money.
- Reward bigger orders with free or reduced delivery above an amount, and only in the zones where it pays.
- Charge for the return trip on long runs if your pricing doesn't already. See should I charge for the rider's return trip?
- Review monthly. If zone C orders are rare and late, shrink it, or hand those orders to a courier.
For a quick global answer on distance, see how far should a restaurant deliver?
Setting it up in Menuthere: miles to kilometers
Menuthere sets distances in kilometers. If you plan in miles, use these:
| Miles | Kilometers |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1.6 |
| 1.5 | 2.4 |
| 3 | 4.8 |
| 5 | 8.0 |
Drawn zones don't need a distance at all: you draw the shape, so the unit doesn't matter.
How Menuthere handles your delivery area
- Radius or zones. In Settings → Ordering → Delivery settings, keep Delivery Radius and set the Maximum delivery distance, or choose Custom Boundary to draw zones. Start from my radius turns your current circle into a first zone.
- Draw or search. Tap the map to drop corners and drag them, with dashed lines showing how far each corner is from your store. Or type a neighborhood in Add an area by name and Menuthere adds its real outline from OpenStreetMap as a zone (up to 150 corners). Places OpenStreetMap only has as a point can't be found that way; draw those.
- Fees. Under How is delivery charged? pick Flat fee, By distance (base + per km, or up to 20 price bands) or, with zones, By zone, one charge per zone.
- Free or reduced delivery above an order value, within a distance or in chosen zones (Lite and up).
- Outside your area. A customer outside every zone can't place a delivery order; checkout says which areas you deliver to and offers Change address or Switch to takeaway.
- Pause a zone by switching it off. If every zone is off, your radius applies again, so a half-finished set-up never stops all deliveries.
Good to know: delivery area and fees work on every plan; fees by distance and free or reduced delivery are part of the advanced delivery rules from Lite. Your own drivers and the driver app are on Pro ($39 a month). There's one minimum order for the store, not one per zone. Step-by-step: delivery zones, add a zone by area name, delivery charges, free and reduced delivery and when a customer is outside your area. Already familiar? The short answer is zones instead of a radius.
Draw your delivery zones and price each one. then. Plans:.
More own-delivery guides: hiring drivers, job description template, driver pay and mileage, tips, insurance, employees or contractors, keeping food hot. The overview with costs: in-house delivery for restaurants.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good delivery radius for a restaurant?
Start with the distance where a trip still costs you less than the fee plus your margin, and where food arrives hot. In our worked example, a trip costs about $5.46 within 1.5 miles and $15.48 at 3 to 5 miles, so in that example a main area of about 3 miles, with a higher fee for anything further, keeps most trips under $10.
How much does it cost to deliver one mile further?
Two miles of mileage, because the driver comes back, plus the extra driving time. At the IRS rate of 76 cents a mile and a driver costing $18.19 an hour at 20 mph, each extra mile out adds about $1.52 in mileage and $1.82 in driver time (6 more minutes on the road).
Should delivery fees be flat or by distance?
A flat fee is simple and works for a small area. If your area runs past about 3 miles, charge by distance or by zone, because the far trips can cost about three times the near ones.
What is the difference between a delivery radius and delivery zones?
A radius is a circle around your store measured in a straight line. Zones are shapes you draw or neighborhood outlines, so they can follow roads, rivers and highways, and each zone can have its own delivery fee.
Can I set delivery zones in miles in Menuthere?
Distances in Menuthere are set in kilometers: 3 miles is about 4.8 km and 5 miles about 8 km. Drawn zones don't need a distance, because you draw the shape on the map.
Sources (5)
- IRS, Standard mileage rates: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates (read 20 Oct 2026, Wave 1): 76¢ business rate, 1 Jul – 31 Dec 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, State Minimum Wage Laws: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state (last updated July 1, 2026; read 20 Oct 2026, Wave 1): California $16.90.
- IRS, Topic no. 751: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751 (read 20 Oct 2026, Wave 1): employer social security 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%.
- Worked example, Python: $16.90 × 1.0765 = $18.19/h; trip minutes = round trip ÷ 20 mph × 60 + 7; A: 13 min → $3.94 + 2 mi × $0.76 = $1.52 → $5.46; B: 20.5 min → $6.22 + $3.42 → $9.64; C: 31 min → $9.40 + $6.08 → $15.48. Per extra mile out: 2 mi × $0.76 = $1.52; 20 mph = 3 min a mile, so one extra mile out = 2 mi = 6 min × $18.19 ÷ 60 = $1.82. 1 mi = 1.609344 km.
- The 20 mph speed, 7-minute handover and the $2.99 / $4.99 / $7.99 fees are example assumptions, labelled on the page, not sourced figures.