SOC 43-9051.00

    Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

    Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution.

    Median pay
    $39,280
    Growth
    -7.2%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    4,700
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $30,780
    Median
    $39,280
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $54,820
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    55,230 people work in this occupation.

    What mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    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.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    50 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    0 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    0 / 100
    Social (S)
    17 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    19 / 100
    Conventional (C) · strongest
    91 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code CRE. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Performing General Physical Activities
    69
    Handling and Moving Objects
    68
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    65
    Getting Information
    65
    Controlling Machines and Processes
    63
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    61
    Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
    60
    Processing Information
    57
    Working with Computers
    57
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    56
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Critical Thinking
    • Monitoring
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Speaking
    • Time Management
    • Active Listening
    • Coordination
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Operation and Control
    • Operations Monitoring

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • English Language
    • Mathematics
    • Law and Government
    • Education and Training
    • Administrative
    • Administration and Management
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Transportation
    • Computers and Electronics

    Abilities

    • Near Vision
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Category Flexibility
    • Finger Dexterity
    • Information Ordering
    • Manual Dexterity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Written Comprehension
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Deductive Reasoning

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity
    • Cautiousness
    • Cooperation
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Self-Control
    • Perseverance
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Humility

    Also called

    Addressing Machine Operator · Addressograph Operator · Advertising Inserter · Canceling Machine Operator · Dead Mail Checker · Direct Mail Clerk · Distribution Clerk · Envelope Sealer Operator · Express Clerk · Hand Inserter Operator

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    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.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.