Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CRE

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.

Also called: City Letter Carrier, Letter Carrier, Mail Carrier, Rural Carrier Associate (RCA), City Carrier, City Carrier Assistant (CCA), City Mail Carrier, Rural Carrier.

O*NET 43-5052.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $60,550; Middle half earn $48,940 to $81,000. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 78% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
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.

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.
Deliver mail to residences and business establishments along specified routes by walking or driving, using a combination of satchels, carts, cars, and small trucks.
Meet schedules for the collection and return of mail.
Register, certify, and insure parcels and letters.
Sign for cash-on-delivery and registered mail before leaving the post office.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.6 / 5
Monitoring2.6 / 5
Writing2.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
English Language3.3 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.2 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.1 / 5
Transportation3.0 / 5
Administration and Management2.9 / 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.

Realistic43
Investigative0
Artistic0
Social28
Enterprising32
Conventional88

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)

office clerk · DE Büroassistent/Büroassistentin · FR employé de bureau/employée de bureau
post office counter clerk · DE Postschalterbediensteter/Postschalterbedienstete · FR guichetier en bureau de poste/guichetière en bureau de poste
mail clerk · DE Postabfertiger/Postabfertigerin · FR employé au courrier/employée au courrier
postman/postwoman · DE Postbote/Postbotin · FR facteur/factrice
reprographics technician · DE Facharbeiter für Reproduktionstechnik/Facharbeiterin für Reproduktionstechnik · FR technicien en reprographie/technicienne en reprographie
print folding operator · DE Falzmaschinenbediener/Falzmaschinenbedienerin · FR opérateur sur plieuse/opératrice sur plieuse

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs (8213)173,900 employed
Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers (8211)273,400 employed
Printers (5422)18,000 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 -1.06. 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 (43-5052).

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