Career
Couriers and messengers
Deliver documents and packages, fast.
$39,200
Median pay
+8.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
23,800
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.
- Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.
- Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.
- Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.
- Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on information & systems, then objects & tools?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Time Management, Speaking, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $39,200 a year and 23,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Postal Service Mail Carriers$60,550 · -0.3%
- Light Truck Drivers$44,860 · +6.3%
- Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service$39,280 · -7.2%
- Postal Service Clerks$62,130 · -0.3%
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260 · -7.6%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.