How To Become A Rural Letter Carrier: What It Is and Career Path

What is a rural letter carrier and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a rural letter carrier. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.29 an hour? That's $40,124 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -29,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRural Letter CarrierUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,124

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.14%

Black or African American 11.18%

Hispanic or Latino 13.87%

Unknown 4.23%

White 63.03%

Gender

female 52.71%

male 47.29%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a rural letter carrier

Explore rural letter carrier education requirements

Most common rural letter carrier degrees

Bachelor's

31.9 %

High School Diploma

27.7 %

Associate

22.9 %

Start to develop specific rural letter carrier skills

Skills	Percentages
Delivery Sequence	36.13%
Customer Service	31.00%
Postal Service	7.09%
COD	6.49%
Mail Security	4.22%

Complete relevant rural letter carrier training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New rural letter carriers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a rural letter carrier based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real rural letter carrier resumes.

Research rural letter carrier duties and responsibilities

Manage problems, conduct RCA investigations and deliver completed documentation.
Start with USPS in march 2001 as a RCA.
Follow directions and protocol of the USPS and all of its regulations and procedures.
Supervise and direct military and civilian personnel in the performance of daily supply logistics support functions.

Prepare your rural letter carrier resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your rural letter carrier resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a rural letter carrier resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable rural letter carrier resume templates

Build a professional rural letter carrier resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your rural letter carrier resume.