Walmart Drone Delivery in 2026: Every Wing City, Denver and Seattle Next, and How It Works
Walmart drone delivery through Wing is live in five US metros in October 2026: Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Orlando. Wing lists 14 more as coming soon, and on 5 October it added Denver and Seattle for 2027. Orders arrive in as little as 30 minutes, but only if you live within about 6 miles of a participating Walmart store, and towns from Castle Rock, Colorado, to Cobb County, Georgia, have already pushed back.
This guide lists every Walmart drone city we can confirm, explains how ordering works, and sets out what is still unclear about fees and weight limits. We update it as Wing and Walmart add stores.
Quick answer
| Question | Answer (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Where is it live? | Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando (Wing); Zipline also flies from some DFW and Arkansas stores |
| Coming soon (Wing) | Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, SF Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa |
| Delivery time | As fast as about 30 minutes |
| Range | About 6 miles from the store |
| How to order | Wing app; Walmart app or website for eligible addresses |
| Payload | Up to 5 lb on Wing’s newer aircraft; some markets quoted 2.5 lb per order |
| Goal | More than 270 Wing locations by 2027 |
Every Walmart drone delivery city in 2026
Wing’s own Walmart page, checked on 15 October 2026, shows five metros serving customers now and 14 marked coming soon. DroneXL counted the same 19 metros when Denver and Seattle were added on 5 October.
| Metro | Status | Announced |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | Live | Original market |
| Houston, TX | Live (from about 15 January 2026) | — |
| Atlanta, GA | Live (12 stores reported in April 2026) | — |
| Charlotte, NC | Live | — |
| Orlando, FL | Live | — |
| Tampa, FL | Coming soon | June 2025 |
| Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Miami | Coming soon | 11 January 2026 |
| Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, SF Bay Area, Salt Lake City | Coming soon | June 2026 |
| Denver, CO and Seattle, WA | Planned for 2027 | 5 October 2026 |
Two caveats matter. First, a metro being live does not mean your neighbourhood is covered: service runs from specific Supercenters, each with a radius of roughly 6 miles. Houston, for example, launched from five stores, two in Katy and one each in north-west Houston, Kemah and Crosby, according to Secret Houston. Second, Walmart’s hometown is not on the list. Bentonville approved a Wing nest permit 7-0 in September 2025, but DroneXL found no confirmed Wing flights there, and the FAA lists only Zipline in Arkansas, at its Pea Ridge hub.
Seattle has no Walmart inside city limits
The Seattle launch will actually start from the suburbs. GeekWire reported on 7 October that permit work is under way at Walmart stores in Federal Way and Tacoma, and Tacoma expected approval by the end of October. Zipline separately has a draft FAA environmental assessment for up to 75 sites in metro Seattle, with no decision yet.
Denver means the Colorado suburbs, and they are pushing back
Denver is the harder case. Castle Rock passed an emergency six-month freeze on drone hubs 7-0 on 21 July 2026 after Walmart filed a pre-application for an 18-drone port at its Sam Walton Lane store; the freeze expires on 21 January 2027. Parker adopted a nine-month freeze the same week after Wing contacted the town. Northglenn’s council is due to vote on 26 October on rules that would require hubs to sit 200 feet from homes and schools, cap noise at 65 dB and limit flights to 7 a.m.–10 p.m. Thornton is drafting rules and Longmont has two Walmart pre-applications pending.
How Walmart drone delivery works
- Check your address. Enter it at Wing’s Walmart page or in the Wing app. You must be 18 or older. If you are outside a store’s roughly 6-mile zone, the option will not appear.
- Pick a drop spot. Wing asks you to choose an open area such as a driveway, patio or back garden. Trees, power lines and covered porches can rule a spot out.
- Order eligible items. Wing says thousands of items qualify, from groceries and over-the-counter medicine to snacks and household goods. Bulky or heavy items do not.
- Store staff pack the order. According to Axios, employees box the order and load it at a fenced area in the store car park.
- The drone flies itself. Flights are autonomous and supervised by remote pilots. At the destination the drone hovers and lowers the package on a tether, then returns to the store.
Chain Store Age and GeekWire both report that eligible customers can also choose drone delivery inside the Walmart app or website. Earlier this year, Axios and Secret Houston described Walmart-app ordering as still to come, so check both apps if one does not show the option.
How much does Walmart drone delivery cost?
This is the least settled part of the service. Axios reported in January 2026 that deliveries were free at the time and that future fees would be comparable to other Walmart delivery options. Secret Houston reported the same month that Houston deliveries were free for Walmart+ members for a limited time and $19.99 per order for non-members. We have not found an official nationwide fee schedule, so treat any price you read as local and temporary, and check the total at checkout.
How much can the drone carry?
Wing unveiled a larger aircraft in January 2024 that carries up to 5 lb, double the 2.5 lb of its earlier design, and FreightWaves reported a cruise speed of about 65 mph. GeekWire and DroneXL use the 5 lb figure for the Walmart service in October 2026. Secret Houston, however, described a 2.5 lb limit per order in January, which suggests the larger aircraft is not yet flying everywhere. In practice that means a few grocery items, a medicine bottle or a phone charger, not a weekly shop.
Is it safe, and is it loud?
Wing has held an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate for drone delivery since April 2019, the first issued to a drone company. Each new market also needs FAA approval for flights beyond the pilot’s line of sight and, increasingly, local zoning approval for the store hub.
On noise, the FAA’s environmental review for Wing in Charlotte, dated 29 April 2025, allows up to 25 hubs and up to 10,000 deliveries a day across the metro, with flights from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. DroneXL reported that at a spot overflown 800 times, the measured day-night average was 40.7 dB or less, well below the FAA’s 65 dB threshold for residential areas. That average hides the short burst when a drone passes overhead, which is what most residents notice.
The towns saying no, or not yet
- Cobb County, Georgia denied hubs at two Walmart stores in April 2026 after a petition with more than 1,200 signatures, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
- Castle Rock and Parker, Colorado froze hub applications in July 2026 (see above).
- Gastonia, North Carolina took the opposite approach: after a site was finished at the North Myrtle School Road Supercenter, the city mailed residents a notice explaining why drones would fly over their homes. No start date has been given.
- Denver, North Carolina (not Colorado) approved a hub 3-1 in June 2026 despite a petition of more than 200 signatures.
Amazon is facing the same fights for its Prime Air hubs, from Westborough, Massachusetts, to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; we track those in our list of towns opposing Amazon drone hubs. For what cities can and cannot regulate, the short version is that the FAA controls the airspace, while towns control land use, which is why the fights are over the hub in the car park.
Walmart vs Amazon vs Zipline
| Service | Where (October 2026) | Payload | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart + Wing | 5 live metros, 14 coming | Up to 5 lb | Target of 270+ locations by 2027 |
| Walmart + Zipline | DFW (17th store in Royse City, Dec 2025), Pea Ridge AR | Up to 5.5 lb | Lowers packages from about 300 ft |
| Amazon Prime Air | 11 sites in 10 metros | Up to 5 lb | Targets about 500 US locations by end of 2026 |
| Manna | Dallas–Fort Worth | Not published here | Raised $50M; building Tulsa hub |
Walmart ended its earlier partnership with DroneUp at the end of 2024. In May 2026 it passed one million drone deliveries across Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina, Axios reported. For the Amazon side, see Prime Air’s plan for 500 cities and Zipline’s Austin launch.
What to watch next
- Northglenn’s council vote on hub rules on 26 October 2026.
- Tacoma’s permit decision, expected by the end of October.
- Castle Rock’s freeze ending on 21 January 2027.
- The FAA’s Part 108 rule for routine beyond-line-of-sight flights, still unsigned; see our Part 108 tracker.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Walmart drone delivery available near me?
Only if you live within about 6 miles of a participating store in Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte or Orlando, or near a Zipline store. Enter your address on Wing’s Walmart page to check.
How much does Walmart drone delivery cost?
There is no published nationwide price. Reports in January 2026 ranged from free during a promotion to $19.99 per order for non-Walmart+ members in Houston. The fee appears at checkout.
How fast is Walmart drone delivery?
Wing and Walmart say as fast as about 30 minutes from order to doorstep.
How much weight can a Walmart delivery drone carry?
Wing’s newer aircraft carries up to 5 lb. Some markets were quoted 2.5 lb per order.
When is Walmart drone delivery coming to Denver and Seattle?
In 2027. Seattle-area service will start from stores in Tacoma and Federal Way; Denver depends on suburbs such as Castle Rock and Parker that have paused hub approvals.
Which app do I use for Walmart drone delivery?
The Wing app, and for eligible addresses the Walmart app or website.
Are delivery drones loud?
FAA documents for Charlotte show a 40.7 dB day-night average at a heavily overflown spot, below the 65 dB residential threshold, though each pass is audible.
Cover photo: Walmart (via GeekWire).
Product links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, Drone Ranker may earn a commission at no cost to you. We compare drones from manufacturer specifications and filings, not hands-on flight tests.
Sources
- Wing: Walmart drone delivery page (checked 15 October 2026)
- DroneXL: Wing picks Denver for Walmart drones (5 October 2026)
- DroneXL: Wing lists 19 Walmart metros; Bentonville isn’t one (6 October 2026)
- DroneXL: Gastonia tells residents why Walmart drones will fly over homes (12 October 2026)
- DroneXL: Castle Rock froze Walmart’s drone hub 7-0 (2 October 2026)
- GeekWire: Walmart prepares Seattle-area drone delivery for 2027 (7 October 2026)
- Axios: Walmart expands drone delivery with Wing to 150 more stores (11 January 2026)
- Chain Store Age: Walmart to bring 30-minute drone delivery to two new markets (5 October 2026)
- Secret Houston: Walmart drone delivery in Greater Houston (16 January 2026)
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Walmart drone proposals denied in Cobb County (24 April 2026)
- Axios Denver: Douglas County towns pause drone hubs (28 July 2026)
Sources
Primary references used for factual claims in this article.
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