Couriers and Messengers
Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Service Orientation
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Transportation
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Production and Processing
- Administrative
- Telecommunications
What the work involves
- Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.
- Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.
- Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.
- Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.
- Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.
- Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.
- Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
- Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (80.3% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (30.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (49.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Couriers and Messengers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 76% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 52% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 63% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 95% of occupations compared | 80% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 97% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 60% of occupations compared | 21% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 80% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 63% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.66%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.41%
- Constant contact with others: 69.94%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 6.62%
- Important: 5.31%
- Very important: 40.04%
- Extremely important: 24.95%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 5.37%
- Fairly important: 5.96%
- Important: 1.31%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0.7%
- Some freedom: 19.69%
- A lot of freedom: 79.61%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 1.15%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.26%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 24.34%
- Every day: 74.26%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 19.93%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.76%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.39%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.28%
- Every day: 18.63%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.03%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.56%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 42.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.97%
- Every day: 19.5%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 25.59%
- Fairly serious: 36.23%
- Serious: 0.68%
- Very serious: 14.43%
- Extremely serious: 23.07%
n = 21, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 43-5021.00 · SOC 43-5021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8