Postal Service Mail Carriers Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 43-5052 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$60,549
$29.11/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Postal Service Mail Carriers is $60,549 per year ($29.11/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $48,942 and $80,995 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $81,037 per year. There are approximately 328,820 postal service mail carriers employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Sort and deliver mail for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Deliver mail on established route by vehicle or on foot. Includes postal service mail carriers employed by USPS contractors.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-3.5%
Slower than average
Annual openings
21K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
319K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
No formal educational credential
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 1 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Postal Service (Federal Government)
NAICS 491100
329K
$60,550
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$20.38
$42,390
P25
$23.53
$48,942
P50MEDIAN
$29.11
$60,549
P75
$38.94
$80,995
P90
$38.96
$81,037
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · other sector
Active
Openings Rate
3.4%
Quits Rate
2.0%
The labor market rebounded in March: hires jumped to 5.6M (+655K) and separations rose to 5.4M (+356K), both more than offsetting February's drop. Job openings held at 6.9M. Quits ticked to 2.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average postal service mail carriers salary?
The national median salary for Postal Service Mail Carriers is $60,549 per year ($29.11/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $48,942 and $80,995 annually.
How much do top-earning postal service mail carriers make?
The 90th percentile salary for Postal Service Mail Carriers is $81,037 per year ($38.96/hr). The 75th percentile is $80,995 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for postal service mail carriers?
Entry-level Postal Service Mail Carriers (10th percentile) earn approximately $42,390 per year ($20.38/hr). The 25th percentile is $48,942 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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