The answer is : not very much.
A recent analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey found that the average salary for a U.S. mail clerk was $21,000 in 2016. That’s $4,000 lower than the average wage for all workers in the U.S. — and, in fact, it’s about half of the median wage for all workers.
While the job of mail clerk sounds like a cushy one, the reality is that it’s hard, physically demanding work. It involves sorting and processing mail at high speed, often for hours at a time, and often in cold, unheated conditions.
“The job is a very physically demanding one,” says Steve Barr, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “There’s no question about that.”
Barr says that in the past, the job was also one that was filled almost exclusively by women. But that’s changed in recent years, and Barr says that there’s no reason why it couldn’t continue to do so.
“The fact that it’s being done by more men and women than ever before is a good thing,” Barr says. “It’s good for the job, it’s good for the company, and it’s good for the mail carriers.