Couriers and Messengers
SOC 43-5021 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $46,034per year
- Projected openings
- 32,970
- Projected change
- +17.8%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Time Management
- Writing
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $53,437 | 1,590 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $50,147 | 260 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $49,462 | 1,850 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $48,514 | 1,780 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $47,461 | 120 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $47,011 | 3,800 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $46,521 | 110 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $45,683 | 140 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $45,305 | 160 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $45,030 | 7,920 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $44,805 | 1,600 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $44,559 | 610 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $44,529 | 720 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $43,405 | 110 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $42,659 | 2,920 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $42,424 | 650 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $42,424 | 170 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $42,261 | 450 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $42,046 | 140 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $42,026 | 740 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $41,812 | 2,530 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $41,413 | 240 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $40,065 | 120 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $39,166 | 440 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $37,613 | 290 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $34,320 | 100 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | Not reported | 50 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | Not reported | 40 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | Not reported | 80 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | Not reported | 160 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $37,057
- A quarter earn under
- $40,353
- Half earn under
- $46,034
- Three quarters earn under
- $49,627
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $58,717
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postal Service Mail Carriers | $63,559 | 19,360 | -6.8% |
| Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service | $45,461 | 5,020 | -8% |
| Light Truck Drivers | $47,814 | 157,370 | +17.9% |
| Postal Service Clerks | $65,156 | 5,010 | -6.3% |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | $47,621 | 75,500 | -5.2% |
| Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators | $60,898 | 6,950 | -11% |