Rural mail carrier vs route carrier

The differences between rural mail carriers and route carriers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a route carrier has an average salary of $37,724, which is higher than the $36,111 average annual salary of a rural mail carrier.

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

Rural mail carrier vs route carrier overview

	Rural Mail Carrier	Route Carrier
Yearly salary	$36,111	$37,724
Hourly rate	$17.36	$18.14
Growth rate	-6%	-6%
Number of jobs	21,544	22,260
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	High School Diploma, 31%
Average age	49	49
Years of experience	-	-

Rural mail carrier vs route carrier salary

Rural mail carriers and route carriers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Rural Mail Carrier	Route Carrier
Average salary	$36,111	$37,724
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $58,000	Between $16,000 And $84,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between rural mail carrier and route carrier education

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

	Rural Mail Carrier	Route Carrier
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	High School Diploma, 31%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Rural mail carrier vs route carrier demographics

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

	Rural Mail Carrier	Route Carrier
Average age	49	49
Gender ratio	Male, 40.3% Female, 59.7%	Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.4% Asian, 6.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between rural mail carrier and route carrier duties and responsibilities

Rural mail carrier example 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.
Sort DPS mail and other mail types per assign route destinations and distribute mail to customer sites.

Route carrier example responsibilities.

Supervise and direct military and civilian personnel in the performance of daily supply logistics support functions.
Learned federal mail organization system and relate processes.

Rural mail carrier vs route carrier skills

Common rural mail carrier skills

Customer Service, 26%
Delivery Sequence, 25%
Mail Delivery, 7%
COD, 6%
Necessary Paperwork, 5%
Postal Service, 5%

Common route carrier skills

Newspapers, 54%
Delivery Sequence, 41%
Delivery Route, 4%

Rural Mail Carrier vs. similar jobs

Rural Mail Carrier related careers

Rural Mail Carrier related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs