# 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.

- Edition: Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition
- Page: https://www.collegesref.com/careers/mail-clerks-and-mail-machine-operators-except-postal-service
- SOC code: 43-9051.00
- Career family: Office and administrative support
- Median annual pay: $39,280 (10th percentile $30,780, 90th percentile $54,820)
- Projected growth: Decline, -7.2%
- Openings a year: 4,700
- Typical entry education: High school diploma
- Bright outlook: no
- Data years: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

## Interest profile (code CRE)

| Interest area | Score (0–100) |
| --- | ---: |
| Realistic (R) | 50 |
| Investigative (I) | 0 |
| Artistic (A) | 0 |
| Social (S) | 17 |
| Enterprising (E) | 19 |
| Conventional (C) | 91 |

## What you'd do

- Performing General Physical Activities (importance 69/100)
- Handling and Moving Objects (importance 68/100)
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates (importance 65/100)
- Getting Information (importance 65/100)
- Controlling Machines and Processes (importance 63/100)
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events (importance 61/100)
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials (importance 60/100)
- Processing Information (importance 57/100)
- Working with Computers (importance 57/100)
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships (importance 56/100)

## 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

## 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

## Related careers

- [Postal Service Clerks](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/postal-service-clerks): $62,130 median pay
- [Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/postal-service-mail-sorters-processors-and-processing-machine-operators): $58,470 median pay
- [Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/shipping-receiving-and-inventory-clerks): $45,260 median pay
- [Postal Service Mail Carriers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/postal-service-mail-carriers): $60,550 median pay
- [Couriers and Messengers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/couriers-and-messengers): $39,200 median pay
- [Data Entry Keyers](https://www.collegesref.com/careers/data-entry-keyers): $41,340 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.