Postal Service Mail Carriers
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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Time Management
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Sales and Marketing
- Transportation
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Obtain signed receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail, collect associated charges, and complete any necessary paperwork.
- Sort mail for delivery, arranging it in delivery sequence.
- Deliver mail to residences and business establishments along specified routes by walking or driving, using a combination of satchels, carts, cars, and small trucks.
- Return to the post office with mail collected from homes, businesses, and public mailboxes.
- Turn in money and receipts collected along mail routes.
- Sign for cash-on-delivery and registered mail before leaving the post office.
- Record address changes and redirect mail for those addresses.
- Hold mail for customers who are away from delivery locations.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (78.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (76.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (44%)
- 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 Postal Service Mail Carriers 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 | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 85% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 75% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | 23% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 92% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 71% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 57% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 64% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 52% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: moderate
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: 22.83%
- Contact with others about half the time: 17.5%
- Contact with others most of the time: 18.96%
- Constant contact with others: 40.72%
n = 45, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 7.81%
- Fairly important: 11.14%
- Important: 1.42%
- Very important: 27.01%
- Extremely important: 52.62%
n = 45, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 22.67%
- Fairly important: 19.67%
- Important: 21.36%
- Very important: 20.15%
- Extremely important: 16.16%
n = 44, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 11.3%
- Very little freedom: 8.06%
- Limited freedom: 33.84%
- Some freedom: 24.62%
- A lot of freedom: 22.18%
n = 44, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 9.73%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.11%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2.92%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.06%
- Every day: 62.18%
n = 45, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 15.82%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.58%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 30.32%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.14%
- Every day: 8.14%
n = 43, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 39.15%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.51%
- Every day: 15.34%
n = 43, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.27%
- Fairly serious: 31.59%
- Serious: 9.84%
- Very serious: 19.89%
- Extremely serious: 20.41%
n = 44, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 43-5052.00 · SOC 43-5052 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8