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

What is a rural mail 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 mail carrier. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.36 an hour? That's $36,111 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -29,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRural Mail CarrierUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,111

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 6.21%

Black or African American 11.95%

Hispanic or Latino 13.43%

Unknown 4.20%

White 63.66%

Gender

female 59.71%

male 40.29%

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 mail carrier

Explore rural mail carrier education requirements

Most common rural mail carrier degrees

Associate

28.6 %

High School Diploma

27.9 %

Bachelor's

26.7 %

Start to develop specific rural mail carrier skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	25.59%
Delivery Sequence	24.88%
Mail Delivery	7.46%
COD	5.86%
Necessary Paperwork	4.78%

Complete relevant rural mail carrier training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New rural mail 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 mail carrier based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real rural mail carrier resumes.

Research rural mail carrier duties and responsibilities

Manage problems, conduct RCA investigations and deliver completed documentation.
Track packages through use of USPS website.
Make customers aware of all services available to them from their carrier and the USPS.
Attend bid openings for prospective construction projects and prepared/draft construction contracts in accordance with RCA policies/procedures.

Prepare your rural mail carrier resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your rural mail 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 mail 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 mail carrier resume templates

Build a professional rural mail 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 mail carrier resume.