Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CRS

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.

Also called: Courier, Driver, Lab Courier (Laboratory Courier), Messenger, Delivery Driver, Mail Carrier, Mailroom Courier, Security Messenger.

O*NET 43-5021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $39,200; Middle half earn $36,070 to $45,280. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.
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.
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.
Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.
Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.3 / 5
Speaking3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Writing3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Monitoring2.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Transportation3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
English Language3.0 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.7 / 5
Law and Government2.5 / 5
Production and Processing2.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic58
Investigative1
Artistic0
Social33
Enterprising31
Conventional68

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

postman/postwoman · DE Postbote/Postbotin · FR facteur/factrice
motorcycle delivery person · DE Auslieferer mit Motorrad/Auslieferin mit Motorrad · FR coursier véhicules 2 roues/coursière véhicules 2 roues
bicycle courier · DE Fahrradkurier/Fahrradkurierin · FR coursier à vélo/coursière à vélo

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs (8213)173,900 employed
Delivery drivers and couriers (8214)287,500 employed
Postal workers, mail sorters and messengers (9211)111,200 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Clerical support workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Clerical support workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,035
Austria	€38,296
Germany	€37,844
Netherlands	€35,854
Sweden	€33,483
Ireland	€32,144
Italy	€29,311
France	€25,943
Spain	€22,026
Portugal	€12,602
Poland	€10,250

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.96. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-5021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test