How To Become A Postal Carrier: What It Is and Career Path

What is a postal carrier and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a postal carrier. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.55 an hour? That's $36,502 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -29,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePostal CarrierUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,502

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.8

Growth Rate -6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 6.48%

Black or African American 11.27%

Hispanic or Latino 16.99%

Unknown 4.17%

White 60.53%

Gender

female 44.03%

male 55.97%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress Level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.7

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.1

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a postal carrier

Explore postal carrier education requirements

Most common postal carrier degrees

Bachelor's

33.4 %

High School Diploma

26.2 %

Associate

25.5 %

Start to develop specific postal carrier skills

Skills	Percentages
Delivery Sequence	29.29%
Customer Service	28.04%
Mail Delivery	8.39%
COD	6.06%
Postal Service	5.23%

Complete relevant postal carrier training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New postal carriers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a postal carrier based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real postal carrier resumes.

Research postal carrier duties and responsibilities

Manage problems, conduct RCA investigations and deliver completed documentation.
Attend bid openings for prospective construction projects and prepared/draft construction contracts in accordance with RCA policies/procedures.
Pass testing requirements including speed and accuracy in memorization as well as organizational skills.

Prepare your postal carrier resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your postal carrier resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a postal carrier resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Postal Carrier Resume templates

Build a professional Postal Carrier resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Postal Carrier resume.

Apply for postal carrier jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a postal carrier job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do postal carriers rate their job?