Postal Service Clerks
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.
73,720 people do this job in the US. $62,130 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 29%
- 0%
- 71%
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, 6%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 28%. Today's estimate: 29%.
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sort incoming and outgoing mail, according to type and destination, by hand or by operating electronic mail-sorting and scanning devices.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 23% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Keep money drawers in order, and record and balance daily transactions.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Receive letters and parcels, and place mail into bags.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Complete forms regarding changes of address, or theft or loss of mail, or for special services such as registered or priority mail.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Provide assistance to the public in complying with federal regulations of Postal Service and other federal agencies.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Respond to complaints regarding mail theft, delivery problems, and lost or damaged mail, filling out forms and making appropriate referrals for investigation.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 29 min13 min to 58 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Sell and collect payment for products such as stamps, prepaid mail envelopes, and money orders.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Register, certify, and insure letters and parcels.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Put undelivered parcels away, retrieve them when customers come to claim them, and complete any related documentation.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Order retail items and other supplies for office use.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Answer questions regarding mail regulations and procedures, postage rates, and post office boxes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 4 min2 min to 8 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Transport mail from one work station to another.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min3 min to 17 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 Mail Carriers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service7% now, 7% by 2028
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks43% now, 43% by 2028
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators1% now, 1% by 2028
- Postmasters and Mail Superintendents19% now, 23% by 2028
- Couriers and Messengers7% now, 7% 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).