Career
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators
Sort and process the mail.
$58,470
Median pay
-5.3%
Job growth, 2025–35
7,300
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
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
- Clear jams in sorting equipment.
- Operate various types of equipment, such as computer scanning equipment, addressographs, mimeographs, optical character readers, and bar-code sorters.
- Sort odd-sized mail by hand, sort mail that other workers have been unable to sort, and segregate items requiring special handling.
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?
“Clear jams in sorting equipment.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Monitoring, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking.
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 $58,470 a year and 7,300 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service$39,280 · -7.2%
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260 · -7.6%
- Postal Service Clerks$62,130 · -0.3%
- Stockers and Order Fillers$37,330 · +8.9%
- Office Machine Operators, Except Computer$40,960 · -14.9%
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.