Postal Service Clerks
SOC 43-5051 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -6.3%
California projects this job will shrink over the next ten years. Fewer openings may mean a harder search.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $65,156per year
- Projected openings
- 5,010
- Projected change
- -6.3%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
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
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $68,249 | 40 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $68,014 | 100 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $67,953 | 40 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $67,953 | 40 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $66,931 | 60 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $66,124 | 160 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $66,124 | 60 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $66,124 | 70 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $66,018 | 290 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $65,746 | 50 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $65,746 | 460 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $65,062 | 30 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $65,062 | 390 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $64,296 | 20 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $64,041 | 120 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $64,040 | 80 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $64,020 | 40 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $63,529 | 160 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $63,529 | 60 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $63,499 | 50 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $63,039 | 360 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $62,957 | 190 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $62,426 | 70 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $62,426 | 130 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $61,323 | 90 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $61,322 | 60 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $60,833 | 40 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $59,116 | 140 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $55,616
- A quarter earn under
- $58,789
- Half earn under
- $65,156
- Three quarters earn under
- $76,805
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $78,167
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% |
| 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% |
| Couriers and Messengers | $46,034 | 32,970 | +17.8% |
| Order Clerks | $48,409 | 11,760 | -17.9% |