Pay · 43-5052
Postal Service Mail Carriers earn $60,550 a year at the midpoint
From about $42,390 at the low end to $81,040 at the top, with $60,550 in the middle — the 2025 survey, published as reported.
National figures for postal service mail carriers, 43-5052, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Postal service mail carrier earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
A resume for postal service mail carriers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Scanned labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt.
- Obtained signed receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail, collect associated charges, and completed any necessary paperwork.
- Returned to the post office with mail collected from homes, businesses, and public mailboxes.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Examples
Resumes written for this line of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Mail Carrier Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Postal Clerk Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Mail Sorter Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Production Planner Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Meter Reader Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Shipping and Receiving Clerk Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Dispatcher Resume Template Office & Administrative
- 911 Dispatcher Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Courier Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Cargo and Freight Agent Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Weigher and Checker Resume Template Office & Administrative
- Records Clerk Resume Template Office & Administrative
Postal service mail carrier wages, state by state
The 39 states where the most people do this work, of 51 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.09 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $62,390 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,300 |
| California | $62,090 | $43,120 | $43,120 — $81,040 | 32,320 |
| Illinois | $62,070 | $43,120 | $43,120 — $81,040 | 14,730 |
| Maryland | $62,070 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 6,420 |
| Massachusetts | $62,070 | $44,160 | $44,160 — $81,040 | 7,630 |
| Nevada | $62,070 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 2,530 |
| New York | $62,070 | $43,120 | $43,120 — $81,040 | 20,580 |
| Virginia | $62,070 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 7,900 |
| Connecticut | $61,130 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 4,510 |
| Florida | $61,130 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 20,810 |
| New Jersey | $61,130 | $43,120 | $43,120 — $81,040 | 10,160 |
| Ohio | $61,130 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 12,680 |
| Texas | $60,550 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 26,700 |
| Minnesota | $59,990 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,890 |
| North Carolina | $59,990 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $82,370 | 11,030 |
| Washington | $59,990 | $43,120 | $43,120 — $81,040 | 6,550 |
| Colorado | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,100 |
| Indiana | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 6,910 |
| Iowa | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 3,730 |
| Michigan | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 11,610 |
| Missouri | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 7,260 |
| Nebraska | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 2,150 |
| New Mexico | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 1,570 |
| Oklahoma | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 4,130 |
| Pennsylvania | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 13,900 |
| Utah | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 2,460 |
| Wisconsin | $59,880 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 6,470 |
| Arkansas | $59,700 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 3,030 |
| Oregon | $59,400 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 3,760 |
| Kentucky | $58,910 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 4,640 |
| Louisiana | $58,910 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,090 |
| Tennessee | $58,570 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 7,310 |
| Kansas | $58,540 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 3,310 |
| Idaho | $57,820 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 1,660 |
| Alabama | $57,700 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,840 |
| Georgia | $57,700 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 10,790 |
| South Carolina | $57,700 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 5,650 |
| West Virginia | $57,700 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 1,850 |
| Mississippi | $57,470 | $42,390 | $42,390 — $81,040 | 3,290 |
Postal service mail carrier pay rate, from hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Number 395 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 50% of the occupations in the survey.
- 393 Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers $60,600
- 394 Carpenters $60,580
- 395 Postal Service Mail Carriers $60,550
- 396 Chemical Technicians $60,390
- 397 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers $60,280
Questions people often ask
What is a postal service mail carrier’s yearly income?
A postal service mail carrier makes a median of $60,550 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $48,940 and $81,000.
What is a postal service mail carrier’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $29.11 an hour; the average is $62,540 a year.
What is the starting pay for a postal service mail carrier?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $48,940 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $42,390.
Which state pays postal service mail carriers the most?
District of Columbia, with a median of $64,250 a year.
How many people work as postal service mail carriers?
About 328,820 in the United States — number 395 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays roughly the same
Median pay within $50 of what postal service mail carriers earn — $60,550 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $30 more Carpenters $60,580median a year 10th percentile: $40,410 90th percentile: $99,910
- $50 more Paramedics $60,600median a year 10th percentile: $44,230 90th percentile: $84,850
- $50 more Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers $60,600median a year 10th percentile: $44,540 90th percentile: $100,270