Pay for postal service mail carriers in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.
Postal service mail carriers earn a median of $60,550 a year, or $29.11 an hour, 18.8% more than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in District of Columbia ($64,250) and lowest in Mississippi ($57,470). Occupation code 43-5052 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Half of the 328,820 postal service mail carriers in the survey earn between $48,940 and $81,000. The bottom tenth earn under $42,390, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $81,040. The average is $62,540; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.
| Nationally | Per year | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $42,390 | $20.38 |
| Bottom quarter earn less than | $48,940 | $23.53 |
| Median | $60,550 | $29.11 |
| Top quarter earn more than | $81,000 | $38.94 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $81,040 | $38.96 |
Hourly figures divide the yearly ones by 2,080 hours, the survey's own full-time year. Convert any salary.
The highest state medians are in District of Columbia ($64,250), Rhode Island ($63,610), Arizona ($62,390), California ($62,090) and Illinois ($62,070). The lowest are in Mississippi ($57,470), Alabama ($57,700), Georgia ($57,700), South Carolina ($57,700) and West Virginia ($57,700).
Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in Arkansas ($68,670 at national prices), South Dakota ($68,589), Iowa ($68,230), Oklahoma ($68,167) and Louisiana ($66,786).
The most postal service mail carriers work in California (32,320), Texas (26,700) and Florida (20,810). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in Mississippi (2.8 per 1,000 jobs), Alabama (2.8) and Connecticut (2.7).
On the national median of $60,550, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $50,832 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $1,955 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $45,029 in Oregon to $52,053 in Nevada. Work out your own paycheck.
The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 31.0% of a mail carrier's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 23 of the 50 states and DC. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single mail carrier earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 6 of the 50 states and DC, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $169,828. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.
| Alabama | $57,700 | $27.74 | −4.7% | $64,961 | $45,697 | 28.6% | 5,840 |
| Alaska | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $58,500 | $50,294 | 36.6% | 450 |
| Arizona | $62,390 | $30.00 | +3.0% | $61,970 | $50,751 | 32.1% | 5,300 |
| Arkansas | $59,700 | $28.70 | −1.4% | $68,670 | $48,307 | 22.1% | 3,030 |
| California | $62,090 | $29.85 | +2.5% | $56,078 | $49,718 | 47.4% | 32,320 |
| Colorado | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $58,107 | $47,659 | 40.5% | 5,100 |
| Connecticut | $61,130 | $29.39 | +1.0% | $59,000 | $48,686 | 39.1% | 4,510 |
| Delaware | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $59,995 | $47,357 | 37.9% | 1,130 |
| District of Columbia | $64,250 | $30.89 | +6.1% | $58,462 | $49,944 | 47.2% | 930 |
| Florida | $61,130 | $29.39 | +1.0% | $59,112 | $51,298 | 37.5% | 20,810 |
| Georgia | $57,700 | $27.74 | −4.7% | $59,921 | $45,663 | 34.8% | 10,790 |
| Hawaii | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $54,461 | $46,852 | 63.5% | 1,200 |
| Idaho | $57,820 | $27.80 | −4.5% | $60,548 | $45,574 | 32.0% | 1,660 |
| Illinois | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $62,096 | $48,981 | 23.3% | 14,730 |
| Indiana | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $64,160 | $48,527 | 23.7% | 6,910 |
| Iowa | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $68,230 | $48,018 | 20.7% | 3,730 |
| Kansas | $58,540 | $28.15 | −3.3% | $64,995 | $46,038 | 25.9% | 3,310 |
| Kentucky | $58,910 | $28.32 | −2.7% | $65,340 | $47,452 | 25.6% | 4,640 |
| Louisiana | $58,910 | $28.32 | −2.7% | $66,786 | $47,747 | 27.2% | 5,090 |
| Maine | $59,010 | $28.37 | −2.5% | $60,804 | $45,872 | 33.7% | 1,510 |
| Maryland | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $59,137 | $49,157 | 37.5% | 6,420 |
| Massachusetts | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $58,691 | $48,950 | 47.2% | 7,630 |
| Michigan | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $62,234 | $47,749 | 26.9% | 11,610 |
| Minnesota | $59,990 | $28.84 | −0.9% | $60,829 | $46,786 | 25.7% | 5,890 |
| Mississippi | $57,470 | $27.63 | −5.1% | $66,093 | $46,458 | 30.1% | 3,290 |
| Missouri | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $65,935 | $47,660 | 25.8% | 7,260 |
| Montana | $59,010 | $28.37 | −2.5% | $62,349 | $46,712 | 31.0% | 830 |
| Nebraska | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $66,457 | $47,870 | 26.0% | 2,150 |
| Nevada | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $62,083 | $52,053 | 35.1% | 2,530 |
| New Hampshire | $59,990 | $28.84 | −0.9% | $57,591 | $50,382 | 41.6% | 1,560 |
| New Jersey | $61,130 | $29.39 | +1.0% | $56,183 | $49,413 | 45.1% | 10,160 |
| New Mexico | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $64,937 | $47,888 | 29.6% | 1,570 |
| New York | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $57,514 | $48,866 | 29.9% | 20,580 |
| North Carolina | $59,990 | $28.84 | −0.9% | $63,599 | $47,988 | 32.3% | 11,030 |
| North Dakota | $59,010 | $28.37 | −2.5% | $66,334 | $49,389 | 24.6% | 800 |
| Ohio | $61,130 | $29.39 | +1.0% | $65,891 | $50,333 | 25.5% | 12,680 |
| Oklahoma | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $68,167 | $47,814 | 25.4% | 4,130 |
| Oregon | $59,400 | $28.56 | −1.9% | $57,468 | $45,029 | 34.6% | 3,760 |
| Pennsylvania | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $61,370 | $48,455 | 26.3% | 13,900 |
| Rhode Island | $63,610 | $30.58 | +5.1% | $62,192 | $50,905 | 46.5% | 1,220 |
| South Carolina | $57,700 | $27.74 | −4.7% | $61,547 | $46,502 | 31.7% | 5,650 |
| South Dakota | $60,760 | $29.21 | +0.3% | $68,589 | $51,001 | 25.6% | 850 |
| Tennessee | $58,570 | $28.16 | −3.3% | $63,753 | $49,241 | 30.5% | 7,310 |
| Texas | $60,550 | $29.11 | 0.0% | $62,386 | $50,832 | 29.2% | 26,700 |
| Utah | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $60,568 | $47,629 | 34.9% | 2,460 |
| Vermont | $59,010 | $28.37 | −2.5% | $60,240 | $47,257 | 36.0% | 690 |
| Virginia | $62,070 | $29.84 | +2.5% | $61,392 | $48,742 | 35.4% | 7,900 |
| Washington | $59,990 | $28.84 | −0.9% | $56,059 | $50,382 | 36.5% | 6,550 |
| West Virginia | $57,700 | $27.74 | −4.7% | $64,471 | $46,689 | 23.0% | 1,850 |
| Wisconsin | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $63,638 | $47,723 | 24.3% | 6,470 |
| Wyoming | $59,880 | $28.79 | −1.1% | $64,602 | $50,294 | 26.7% | 430 |
Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.
Customer Service Representative $44,770 · Office Clerk $45,010 · Administrative Assistant $47,540 · Office Supervisor $69,500 · Bookkeeper $50,670 · Medical Secretary $45,930 · Receptionist $38,010 · Shipping and Receiving Clerk $45,260