Postal carrier vs rural route carrier

The differences between postal carriers and rural route carriers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a rural route carrier has an average salary of $41,800, which is higher than the $36,502 average annual salary of a postal carrier.

The top three skills for a postal carrier include delivery sequence, customer service and mail delivery. The most important skills for a rural route carrier are delivery sequence, customer service, and mail delivery.

Postal carrier vs rural route carrier overview

	Postal Carrier	Rural Route Carrier
Yearly salary	$36,502	$41,800
Hourly rate	$17.55	$20.10
Growth rate	-6%	-6%
Number of jobs	16,224	22,379
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 29%
Average age	49	49
Years of experience	-	-

Postal carrier vs rural route carrier salary

Postal carriers and rural route carriers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Postal Carrier	Rural Route Carrier
Average salary	$36,502	$41,800
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $61,000	Between $21,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between postal carrier and rural route carrier education

There are a few differences between a postal carrier and a rural route carrier in terms of educational background:

	Postal Carrier	Rural Route Carrier
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 29%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Postal carrier vs rural route carrier demographics

Here are the differences between postal carriers' and rural route carriers' demographics:

	Postal Carrier	Rural Route Carrier
Average age	49	49
Gender ratio	Male, 56.0% Female, 44.0%	Male, 37.8% Female, 62.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 6.5% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between postal carrier and rural route carrier duties and responsibilities

Postal carrier example responsibilities.

Manage problems, conduct RCA investigations and deliver completed documentation.
Attend bid openings for prospective construction projects and prepared/draft construction contracts in accordance with RCA policies/procedures.
Pass testing requirements including speed and accuracy in memorization as well as organizational skills.

Rural route carrier example responsibilities.

Manage problems, conduct RCA investigations and deliver completed documentation.
Deliver daily newspapers to customers in the community.
Save driving record with USPS vehicles.
Deliver mail and packages per set route while operating USPS vehicles to safety and legal standards.
Attend bid openings for prospective construction projects and prepared/draft construction contracts in accordance with RCA policies/procedures.
Ascertain that delivery address matches actual address, requiring excellent number memorization.

Postal carrier vs rural route carrier skills

Common postal carrier skills

Delivery Sequence, 29%
Customer Service, 28%
Mail Delivery, 8%
COD, 6%
Postal Service, 5%
Necessary Paperwork, 4%

Common rural route carrier skills

Delivery Sequence, 36%
Customer Service, 22%
Mail Delivery, 13%
Postal Service, 6%
Mail Security, 4%
USPS, 4%