# Couriers and Messengers

> Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance.

- Edition: Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition
- Page: https://www.collegesref.com/careers/couriers-and-messengers
- SOC code: 43-5021.00
- Career family: Office and administrative support
- Median annual pay: $39,200 (10th percentile $31,550, 90th percentile $50,330)
- Projected growth: Much faster than average, +8.0%
- Openings a year: 23,800
- Typical entry education: High school diploma
- Bright outlook: yes
- Data years: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

## Interest profile (code CRS)

| Interest area | Score (0–100) |
| --- | ---: |
| Realistic (R) | 58 |
| Investigative (I) | 1 |
| Artistic (A) | 0 |
| Social (S) | 33 |
| Enterprising (E) | 31 |
| Conventional (C) | 68 |

## What you'd do

- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment (importance 79/100)
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events (importance 74/100)
- Getting Information (importance 67/100)
- Handling and Moving Objects (importance 66/100)
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates (importance 64/100)
- Performing General Physical Activities (importance 63/100)
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships (importance 58/100)
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards (importance 54/100)
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work (importance 53/100)
- Assisting and Caring for Others (importance 52/100)

## Skills

Active Listening, Speaking, Time Management, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Writing, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Monitoring

## Knowledge

Transportation, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Public Safety and Security, Law and Government, Production and Processing, Administrative, Telecommunications, Communications and Media, Mathematics

## Also called

Bank Courier, Bank Messenger, Bicycle Messenger, Call Person, Call Worker Person, Caller, Circular Distributor, Copy Messenger, Courier, Courier Delivery Driver

## Related careers

- [Postal Service Mail Carriers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/postal-service-mail-carriers): $60,550 median pay
- [Light Truck Drivers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/light-truck-drivers): $44,860 median pay
- [Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/mail-clerks-and-mail-machine-operators-except-postal-service): $39,280 median pay
- [Postal Service Clerks](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/postal-service-clerks): $62,130 median pay
- [Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/shipping-receiving-and-inventory-clerks): $45,260 median pay
- [Driver/Sales Workers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/driver-sales-workers): $38,770 median pay

## Sources

- [O*NET Database](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), version 31.0 (CC BY 4.0)
- [BLS Employment Projections](https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables.htm), version 2025-35, data year 2025 (Public domain (U.S. government work))
- [BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm), version 2025, data year 2025 (Public domain (U.S. government work))
- [NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/resources.aspx?y=56), version 2020, data year 2020 (Public domain (U.S. government work))

O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.