Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 43-5052

Postal Service Mail Carriers

O*NET task statements lead this Postal Service Mail Carriers card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Cargo and Freight Agents, Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs, First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Postal Service Mail Carriers: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($77K) , Cargo and Freight Agents ($52K) , Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs ($54K) , First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers ($70K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Postal Service Mail Carriers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-5052 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Scan labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt
  2. 2. Obtain signed receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail, collect associated charges, and complete any necessary paperwork
  3. 3. Return to the post office with mail collected from homes, businesses, and public mailboxes
  4. 4. Sort mail for delivery, arranging it in delivery sequence
  5. 5. Deliver mail to residences and business establishments along specified routes by walking or driving, using a combination of satchels, car…
  6. 6. Meet schedules for the collection and return of mail
  7. 7. Register, certify, and insure parcels and letters
  8. 8. Sign for cash-on-delivery and registered mail before leaving the post office
  9. 9. Hold mail for customers who are away from delivery locations
  10. 10. Turn in money and receipts collected along mail routes
  11. 11. Leave notices telling patrons where to collect mail that could not be delivered
  12. 12. Maintain accurate records of deliveries

Postal Service Mail Carriers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-5052 - lead skill Active Listening at 3.0 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 3.0
  2. 2. Speaking 3.0
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 3.0
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 3.0
  5. 5. Time Management 2.9
  6. 6. Coordination 2.8
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 2.6
  8. 8. Monitoring 2.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  2. 2. English Language 3.3
  3. 3. Public Safety and Security 3.2
  4. 4. Sales and Marketing 3.1
  5. 5. Transportation 3.0
  6. 6. Administration and Management 2.9
National median after O*NET task lead
$60,550
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Scan labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt
$61K
National median
↓ -4%
Growth 2024-2034
20,600
Annual openings
328,820
Estimated US jobs
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $77K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education No formal educational credential

Top Paying States for Postal Service Mail Carriers

1. Maryland $62,070
2. Nevada $62,070
3. Illinois $62,070
4. Rhode Island $63,610
5. Arizona $62,390
6. California $62,090
7. Virginia $62,070
8. New York $62,070
9. Massachusetts $62,070
10. District of Columbia $64,250

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Cargo and Freight Agents $52,260
  2. 2. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants $76,590
  3. 3. Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs $54,210
  4. 4. First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers $69,500
  5. 5. Public Safety Telecommunicators $53,040
  6. 6. Desktop Publishers $55,290

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Postal Service Mail Carriers (SOC 43-5052). The national OEWS median is $60,550 inside Office and Administrative Support Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Cargo and Freight Agents, Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs, First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers. Lead published task: Scan labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt.

Employment Projections expect -4% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 20,600 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns No formal educational credential as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Maryland at $62,070. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants at $76,590. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Postal Service Mail Carriers pay-rank #5 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Among 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with a published OEWS median, Postal Service Mail Carriers is pay-rank #5, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 43-5052 · national median $60,550 · upper third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#5/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Postal Service Mail Carriers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-5052

Maryland · top state for Postal Service Mail Carriers

$62K published median

Nevada · #2 state pay

$62K · behind Maryland

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Postal Service Mail Carriers · $77K

Cargo and Freight Agents

Lower-pay peer beside Postal Service Mail Carriers · $52K

Compare Postal Service Mail Carriers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Postal Service Mail Carriers with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Postal Service Mail Carriers full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles sit near Postal Service Mail Carriers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Postal Service Mail Carriers is pay-rank #5 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks ($60K), Postal Service Clerks ($62K), Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators ($58K), Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks ($58K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do postal service mail carriers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Postal Service Mail Carriers. Leading ones include: Scan labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt; Obtain signed receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail, collect associated charges, and complete any necessary paperwork; Return to the post office with mail collected from homes, businesses, and public mailboxes; Sort mail for delivery, arranging it in delivery sequence. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for postal service mail carriers? ▼
For SOC 43-5052, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (3.0), Speaking (3.0), Critical Thinking (3.0), Social Perceptiveness (3.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Public Safety and Security. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Postal Service Mail Carriers? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $60,550 as the national median for Postal Service Mail Carriers. The published 10th-90th range is $42,390 to $81,040. Beside Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($76,590), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Postal Service Mail Carriers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Postal Service Mail Carriers is -4%. Projected annual openings: about 20,600. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Postal Service Mail Carriers? ▼
BLS assigns No formal educational credential as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Postal Service Mail Carriers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Postal Service Mail Carriers? ▼
Maryland ($62,070), Nevada ($62,070), Illinois ($62,070) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Postal Service Mail Carriers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-5052. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Postal Service Mail Carriers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics