What Is the Average Salary of a Mail Carrier?
A mail carrier sorts and delivers mail to homes and businesses. Most begin work early in the morning, sometimes as early as 4 a.m. These workers walk or drive in order to get mail to their destination. If you are interested in becoming a mail carrier, then discover how much they earn and what type of benefits they receive.
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National Salary
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The mean hourly wage for postal service mail carriers was $23.53 and the mean annual wage, or average salary, was $48,940, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2009. The postal service industry employed 339,030 postal service mail carriers during this time.
Experience
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The PayScale website lists mail carriers' salary based on experience. In October 2010, mail carriers with one to four years of experience earned $38,855 to $48,969; five to nine years, $46,472 to $52,021; 10 to 19 years, $50,657 to $57,888; and 20 years or more, $50,259 to $57,276.
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Top-Paying States
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The District of Columbia paid the highest average salary above all other locations to postal service mail carriers with $51,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2009. Other states that offered high pay were: Alaska, $51,360; Hawaii, $51,230; California, $50,830; and Massachusetts, $50,500.
Job Outlook
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, national employment for postal service mail carriers is expected to decrease at a rate of one percent from 2008 through 2018. Opportunities will be competitive due to low-entry requirements and attractive wages and benefits.
Benefits
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All postal service employees take part in the federal benefits package. Postal service mail carriers take part in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, the federal retirement program, Thrift Savings Plan, Social Security, Medicare, Life Insurance and the Flexible Spending Accounts Program. Employees also receive vacation leave, sick leave and observes all federal holidays.
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References
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Back in the sixties GE came up with a great plan and hired the graduating class of Syracuse University and weeded out the ones that didn't fit. What a mistake that turned out to be. At the time a degree threw open the doors of opportunity but the human element was still there with degrees and proved to be fruitless. I think the term, book smart, came into existence at that time.
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Every time I have a temporary mail carrier my mail is either lost or in another box? They have recently lost a package from ebay that has a cell phone in it and I am sure the mail person is using it , Over payed is what I call it!
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Wow, they make more money than I do as a teacher with two degrees, that's sad...
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80% of the mail delivered to my house is useless junk and advertisements that go straight to the trash. A huge waste of paper that I don't want to be a part of. This service might've been vital to our infrastructure 20 years ago but is hardly needed today, except by the more senior people who don't have the technology required to replace mail. Maybe we should spend money upgrading everybody's technical infastructure so everyone has access to basic electronic mail, even the elderly.
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$50,000 per year sounds like a lot of money to pay someone for this type of job, because the skillset required, and correct me if I am wrong, makes it relatively easy. By supply and demand, it would seem there should be enough able-bodied individuals who can perform this job for a much lower rate to get through their early twenties while they build more diverse skills for a career with a better pay scale. In addition 80% of the mail being delivered to my house is junk in the first place. Maybe 20 years ago this was a vital service but I fail to see it even existing in another 10.
