The Post Office Department was founded in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. His annual salary was $1,000. That makes us the second oldest federal department. Before 1971, the PMG was a Cabinet member.
The most unusual delivery method used by USPS is a mule train in Arizona. The mules carry mail, food and supplies down an 8-mile trail to the Havasupai Indians at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Learn more
With Informed Delivery service, you can digitally preview your incoming mail and manage your packages from a computer, tablet or mobile device. More than 8 million customers have enrolled in this free service since it launched in 2017. Residential consumers and residential PO Box customers can sign up at usps.com.
Heroes. Postal employees regularly go beyond the call of duty to protect the lives of customers they serve, including older and disabled customers through the Carrier Alert Program. In fiscal year 2017, the Postal Service recognized 318 heroic employees.
The Postal Service processes and delivers 493.4 million mailpieces each day. That's an average of 20.6 million each hour, 342,638 per minute and 5,711 mailpieces processed every second.
Zero tax dollars used. The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Postal Inspectors reported 5,538 arrests and 4,679 convictions related to postal crimes, primarily those involving mail theft, mail fraud and prohibited mailings in 2017.
The Postal Service operates a fleet of more than 47,000 alternative fuel-capable vehicles, most of which are equipped to use ethanol. There are electric, compressed natural gas and liquid propane gas vehicles in the fleet as well. Two-ton electric vehicles have been delivering mail in New York City since 2001.
Our communications network supports and maintains more than 145,000 desktop computers, 23,000 notebook computers, 97,000 printers, 27,000 mobile devices including smartphones, 400,000 phone lines and 310,000 handheld scanners.
With Package Pickup, customers can go online to request Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail packages be picked up at their homes or offices as part of the mail carrier’s regular route — for free.
The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp has raised more than $86.7 million since 1998. More than 1 billion stamps have been sold. The stamp is scheduled to remain on sale until December 2019. Learn more
In 2017, stamp and retail sales at the Postal Store on usps.com - the official online Post Office - totaled nearly $298 million.
About Postal Facts
United States Postal Service - May 15, 2018
Postal Facts tells the Postal Service story — from size and scope to fun facts, from the 10-year trend of figures to postage stamps, from innovation in the mail to innovative technologies — in an interesting and visually creative way.
Plain and simple, the U.S. Postal Service delivers for America. In an increasingly digital world, the Postal Service remains part of the bedrock infrastructure of the American economy, serving its people and businesses, and connecting the nation together. The core function of the Postal Service is to provide the secure, reliable and affordable delivery of mail and packages to every address in the United States, its territories and its military installations worldwide.
The Postal Service delivers more mail to more addresses in a larger geographical area than any other post in the world. Delivering to more than 157 million addresses in every state, city and town in the country, everyone in the U.S. and its territories has access postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class postage stamp regardless of location.
By bridging physical to digital, the Postal Service remains a very relevant and necessary provider of communications to this nation for more than 240 years after Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General.
Unless otherwise noted, all figures are based on the Postal Service’s fiscal year.
Trademarks
The Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following word marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service®:
Certified Mail®, Click-N-Ship®, Every Door Direct Mail®, Express Mail®, First-Class™, First-Class Mail®, Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, gopost®, Intelligent Mail®, Metro Post®, Parcel Select®, PO Box™, Post Office™, PostalOne!®, Postal Police®, Postal Service™, Premium Forwarding Service® , Priority Mail®, Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail Express International®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, Priority Mail International®, Priority: You®, Registered Mail™, Return For Good®, Standard Mail®, The Postal Store®, United States Postal Inspection Service®, United States Postal Service®, U.S. Mail®, U.S. Postal Inspector®, U.S. Postal Service®, USPS®, USPS BlueEarth®, USPS Mobile®, USPS Tracking®, USPS.COM®, ZIP + 4®, and ZIP Code™. This is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service trademarks.
Postal Facts provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. However, these facts may become outdated after publication and seeking the latest information is advised.
Special thanks to the Postal Facts 2018 editors:
Sue Brennan, Ilze Sella, Megan Plummer, Ashley Holmes Mullenix, Tatiana Roy, Carl Walton
The Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following word marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service®:
Certified Mail®, Click-N-Ship®, Every Door Direct Mail®, Express Mail®, First-Class™, First-Class Mail®, Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, gopost®, Intelligent Mail®, Metro Post®, Parcel Select®, PO Box™, Post Office™, PostalOne!®, Postal Police®, Postal Service™, Premium Forwarding Service® , Priority Mail®, Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail Express International®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, Priority Mail International®, Priority: You®, Registered Mail™, Return For Good®, Standard Mail®, The Postal Store®, United States Postal Inspection Service®, United States Postal Service®, U.S. Mail®, U.S. Postal Inspector®, U.S. Postal Service®, USPS®, USPS BlueEarth®, USPS Mobile®, USPS Tracking®, USPS.COM®, ZIP + 4®, and ZIP Code™. This is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service trademarks.
Postal Facts provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. However, these facts may become outdated after publication and seeking the latest information is advised.
Special thanks to the Postal Facts 2018 editors:
Sue Brennan, Ilze Sella, Megan Plummer, Ashley Holmes Mullenix, Tatiana Roy, Carl Walton
