Postal Service Mail Carriers salary

SOC 43-5052 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$60,550

per year, nationally

Middle half

$48,940–$81,000

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

328,820

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-3.5%

20,600 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,390$81,040

10th: $42,390
25th: $48,940
Median: $60,550
75th: $81,000
90th: $81,040

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where postal service mail carriers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$64,250	109.9	930	0.63×
2	Rhode Island	$63,610	102.3	1,220	1.15×
3	Arizona	$62,390	100.7	5,300	0.77×
4	California	$62,090	110.7	32,320	0.84×
5	Maryland	$62,070	105.0	6,420	1.10×
6	Massachusetts	$62,070	105.8	7,630	0.99×
7	New York	$62,070	107.9	20,580	1.00×
8	Nevada	$62,070	100.0	2,530	0.77×
9	Virginia	$62,070	101.1	7,900	0.91×
10	Illinois	$62,070	100.0	14,730	1.14×
11	Ohio	$61,130	92.8	12,680	1.08×
12	New Jersey	$61,130	108.8	10,160	1.12×
13	Connecticut	$61,130	103.6	4,510	1.26×
14	Florida	$61,130	103.4	20,810	0.99×
15	South Dakota	$60,760	88.6	850	0.88×
16	Texas	$60,550	97.1	26,700	0.90×
17	Minnesota	$59,990	98.6	5,890	0.94×
18	Washington	$59,990	107.0	6,550	0.87×
19	New Hampshire	$59,990	104.2	1,560	1.08×
20	North Carolina	$59,990	94.3	11,030	1.06×
21	Wyoming	$59,880	92.7	430	0.72×
22	Alaska	$59,880	102.4	450	0.65×
23	Colorado	$59,880	103.1	5,100	0.84×
24	Delaware	$59,880	99.8	1,130	1.10×
25	Hawaii	$59,880	110.0	1,200	0.90×
26	Indiana	$59,880	93.3	6,910	1.02×
27	Iowa	$59,880	87.8	3,730	1.13×
28	Michigan	$59,880	96.2	11,610	1.25×
29	Missouri	$59,880	90.8	7,260	1.17×
30	Nebraska	$59,880	90.1	2,150	0.99×
31	New Mexico	$59,880	92.2	1,570	0.85×
32	Oklahoma	$59,880	87.8	4,130	1.14×
33	Pennsylvania	$59,880	97.6	13,900	1.08×
34	Utah	$59,880	98.9	2,460	0.67×
35	Wisconsin	$59,880	94.1	6,470	1.04×
36	Arkansas	$59,700	86.9	3,030	1.10×
37	Oregon	$59,400	103.4	3,760	0.90×
38	Montana	$59,010	94.6	830	0.77×
39	Vermont	$59,010	98.0	690	1.07×
40	North Dakota	$59,010	89.0	800	0.88×
41	Maine	$59,010	97.0	1,510	1.11×
42	Louisiana	$58,910	88.2	5,090	1.24×
43	Kentucky	$58,910	90.2	4,640	1.10×
44	Tennessee	$58,570	91.9	7,310	1.05×
45	Kansas	$58,540	90.1	3,310	1.09×
46	Idaho	$57,820	95.5	1,660	0.92×
47	South Carolina	$57,700	93.7	5,650	1.16×
48	West Virginia	$57,700	89.5	1,850	1.25×
49	Alabama	$57,700	88.8	5,840	1.31×
50	Georgia	$57,700	96.3	10,790	1.04×
51	Mississippi	$57,470	87.0	3,290	1.34×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where postal service mail carriers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for postal service mail carriers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Lawrence, KS	$70,530	90.2	100	0.87×
2	Bay City, MI	$68,640	91.9	120	1.72×
3	Enid, OK	$68,640	84.3	60	1.22×
4	Bozeman, MT	$68,060	102.5	60	0.41×
5	Napa, CA	$67,140	112.6	130	0.78×
6	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$66,440	110.5	670	0.98×
7	Iowa City, IA	$64,890	91.5	150	0.74×
8	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$64,460	103.2	400	1.08×
9	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$64,250	91.7	690	0.81×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$64,250	106.7	2,000	0.88×
11	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$64,250	101.8	1,830	1.21×
12	Missoula, MT	$64,250	96.4	100	0.71×
13	Salinas, CA	$64,250	109.0	280	0.72×
14	Victoria, TX	$64,250	89.8	90	1.13×
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$64,250	108.9	6,250	0.94×
16	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$64,250	115.6	4,730	0.94×
17	Tucson, AZ	$64,250	96.9	870	1.05×
18	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$64,250	103.3	3,630	0.72×
19	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$64,250	92.6	1,120	1.18×
20	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$64,250	113.6	10,940	0.83×
21	Toledo, OH	$64,250	91.5	730	1.18×
22	Bloomington, IN	$64,250	95.1	190	1.23×
23	Merced, CA	$64,250	98.3	200	1.20×
24	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	$64,250	85.9	540	0.85×
25	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$64,190	90.6	280	0.73×
26	Fargo, ND-MN	$63,930	90.9	230	0.73×
27	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$63,750	103.6	10,320	1.08×
28	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$63,610	105.1	600	0.97×
29	Bismarck, ND	$63,610	91.0	130	0.83×
30	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$63,380	111.9	2,820	0.87×
31	Lincoln, NE	$63,380	91.6	320	0.83×
32	Kingston, NY	$63,380	100.7	160	1.27×
33	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$63,380	85.9	210	1.01×
34	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$63,380	95.8	1,370	1.21×
35	Winchester, VA-WV	$63,380	96.5	100	0.68×
36	Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL	$63,170	98.3	200	1.64×
37	Jonesboro, AR	$63,140	85.9	150	1.14×
38	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$62,980	109.4	130	0.86×
39	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$62,960	111.1	3,420	0.78×
40	Bloomington, IL	$62,960	93.5	180	0.95×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where postal service mail carriers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks$59,650
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance$50,340
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators$58,470
Public Safety Telecommunicators$53,040
Cargo and Freight Agents$52,260
Postal Service Clerks$62,130
Couriers and Messengers$39,200