Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution. Time-stamp, open, read, sort, and route incoming mail; and address, seal, stamp, fold, stuff, and affix postage to outgoing mail or packages. Duties may also include keeping necessary records and completed forms.
55,230 people do this job in the US. $39,280 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 7%
- 0%
- 93%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 7%. Today's estimate: 7%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 29 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 33 min17 min to 58 min | Stays with people | |
| Place incoming or outgoing letters or packages into sacks or bins based on destination or type, and place identifying tags on sacks or bins.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Determine manner in which mail is to be sent, and prepare it for delivery to mailing facilities.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Mail merchandise samples or promotional literature in response to requests.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Weigh packages or letters to determine postage needed, using weighing scales and rate charts.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate computer-controlled keyboards or voice recognition equipment to direct items according to established routing schemes.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Seal or open envelopes, by hand or by using machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Lift and unload containers of mail or parcels onto equipment for transportation to sortation stations.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Affix postage to packages or letters by hand, or stamp materials, using postage meters.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 10 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Read production orders to determine types and sizes of items scheduled for printing and mailing.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Remove from machines printed materials, such as labeled articles, postmarked envelopes or tape, and folded sheets.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Postal Service Clerks29% now, 29% by 2028
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators1% now, 1% by 2028
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks43% now, 43% by 2028
- Postal Service Mail Carriers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Couriers and Messengers7% now, 7% by 2028
- Data Entry Keyers96% now, 99% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).