---
title: "Postal Service Clerk"
description: "Perform any combination of tasks in a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office, such as receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-clerk"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Postal Service Clerk

**Category:** Office and Administrative Support · **SOC code:** 43-5051 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 43-5051.00

Perform any combination of tasks in a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office, such as receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money orders; place mail in pigeon holes of mail rack or in bags; and examine mail for correct postage. Includes postal service clerks employed by USPS contractors.

Also advertised as: Bulk Mail Technician; Clerk; Distribution Clerk; Part Time Flexible Clerk (PTF Clerk); Postal Clerk; Sales and Distribution Clerk; Sales and Service Associate (SSA); Window Clerk.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $62,130 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $29.87/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $42,600 to $75,030, with the middle half between $56,740 and $70,890
- **Total US employment:** 73,720
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -0.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 5,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 42/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 73,720 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $42,600 |
| 25th | $56,740 |
| 50th (median) | $62,130 |
| 75th | $70,890 |
| 90th | $75,030 |
| Mean (average) | $61,860 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GU | $68,810 | No BEA price parity | 30 |
| DC | $67,790 | $61,683 | 110 |
| NJ | $64,290 | $59,087 | 2,230 |
| NC | $64,290 | $68,157 | 2,070 |
| VI | $63,660 | No BEA price parity | 60 |
| CA | $63,650 | $57,487 | 6,410 |
| HI | $63,650 | $57,889 | 430 |
| MI | $63,650 | $66,153 | 2,340 |
| LA | $63,210 | $71,661 | 1,100 |
| MD | $63,210 | $60,224 | 1,240 |
| TN | $63,210 | $68,804 | 1,330 |
| NY | $62,690 | $58,089 | 5,030 |
| OH | $62,690 | $67,573 | 2,430 |
| FL | $62,610 | $60,543 | 3,540 |
| GA | $62,610 | $65,020 | 2,070 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-clerk/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/postal-service-clerk.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 70,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 70,700 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 200 jobs, or -0.3%. Declining: -0.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 5,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 67.6% |
| Some College Courses | 17.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 7.8% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 6.8% |

## What the work involves

- Check mail to ensure correct postage and that packages and letters are in proper condition for mailing.
- Answer questions regarding mail regulations and procedures, postage rates, and post office boxes.
- Sort incoming and outgoing mail, according to type and destination, by hand or by operating electronic mail-sorting and scanning devices.
- Weigh letters and parcels, compute mailing costs based on type, weight, and destination, and affix correct postage.
- Transport mail from one work station to another.
- Obtain signatures from recipients of registered or special delivery mail.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sales and Marketing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 6.55 |
| R — Realistic | 3.21 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.71 |
| S — Social | 2.57 |
| I — Investigative | 1.00 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISFJ | 84.2 |
| ESTJ | 83.9 |
| ISTJ | 80.7 |
| ESFJ | 78.7 |
| ESTP | 51.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISFJ, ESTJ, ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Postal Service Mail Carrier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-mail-carrier) — median $60,550
- [Mail Clerk and Mail Machine Operator, Except Postal Service](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mail-clerk-and-mail-machine-operator) — median $39,280
- [Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/shipping-receiving-and-inventory-clerk) — median $45,260
- [Postal Service Mail Sorter, Processor, and Processing Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-mail-sorter-processor-and-processing-machine-operator) — median $58,470
- [Postmaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postmaster) — median $96,660
- [Courier and Messenger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/courier-and-messenger) — median $39,200
- [Order Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/order-clerk) — median $46,170
- [Cargo and Freight Agent](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cargo-and-freight-agent) — median $52,260
- [Stocker and Order Filler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stocker-and-order-filler) — median $37,330
- [Office Clerk, General](https://nuecareer.com/careers/office-clerk-general) — median $45,010

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/postal-service-clerk