Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
SOC 43-5053 · 2024-2034
Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Examine, sort, and route mail. Load, operate, and occasionally adjust and repair mail processing, sorting, and canceling machinery. Keep records of shipments, pouches, and sacks, and perform other duties related to mail handling within the postal service. Includes postal service mail sorters and processors employed by USPS contractors.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -11%
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
- $60,898per year
- Projected openings
- 6,950
- Projected change
- -11%
- 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.
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $74,537 | 520 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $66,124 | 220 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $65,062 | 140 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $59,770 | 350 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $59,617 | 180 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $58,728 | 170 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $58,728 | 20 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $58,728 | 40 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $58,728 | 920 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $58,728 | 600 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $57,666 | 580 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $57,666 | 90 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $48,563
- A quarter earn under
- $51,971
- Half earn under
- $60,898
- Three quarters earn under
- $76,805
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $77,061
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Clerks | $65,156 | 5,010 | -6.3% |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | $43,808 | 565,760 | +15.5% |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | $45,689 | 502,850 | +8.6% |
| Office Machine Operators, Except Computer | $48,266 | 2,680 | -13% |