Office and administrative support
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service
Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution. Time-stamp, open, read, sort, and route incoming mail; and address, seal, stamp, fold, stuff, and affix postage to outgoing mail or packages. Duties may also include keeping necessary records and completed forms.
Median pay
$39,280
Growth to 2035
−7%
declining
Openings a year
4,700
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service: 42% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Lift and unload containers of mail or parcels onto equipment for transportation to sortation stations.
- Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing.
- Clear jams in sortation equipment.
- Place incoming or outgoing letters or packages into sacks or bins based on destination or type, and place identifying tags on sacks or bins.
- Release packages or letters to customers upon presentation of written notices or other identification.
- Remove containers of sorted mail or parcels and transfer them to designated areas according to established procedures.
- Determine manner in which mail is to be sent, and prepare it for delivery to mailing facilities.
- Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary.
Also called: Insert Operator · Inserter Operator · Mail Clerk · Mail Handler · Mail Machine Operator · Mail Processor · Mail Sorter · Mailing Equipment Operator
Outlook and AI
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service held 57,800 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 53,600 by 2035 (−7%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Capital/labor substitution - share decreases as companies use machines with programmable software that continues to supplant some office mailing tasks. Correspondence and communication will increasingly be done online and organizations will utilize less administrative staff to handle incoming and outgoing mail.
Compare with
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Postal service clerk
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Postal service mail carrier
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Couriers and messengers
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Data entry keyer
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Stockers and order fillers
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Office machine operators, except computer
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service vs. Order clerk