Careers / Couriers and Messengers
Couriers and Messengers — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$39,200
United States, 2025
Employment
68,640
United States, 2025
Typical education
Not recorded
Job Zone 2
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance.
- O*NET code
- 43-5021.00
- Job zone
- 2
- Experience required
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months
Typical tasks
- Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
- Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.
- Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
- Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.
- Perform routine maintenance on delivery vehicles, such as monitoring fluid levels and replenishing fuel.
- Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
- Unload goods from large trucks, and load them onto smaller delivery vehicles.
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming mail.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$31,550
25th percentile
$36,070
75th percentile
$45,280
90th percentile
$50,330
Most important skills
- Active Listening3.3
- Speaking3.3
- Time Management3.3
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Service Orientation3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Writing3.0
- Judgment and Decision Making2.9
- Social Perceptiveness2.8
- Monitoring2.8
- Coordination2.8
- Operation and Control2.6
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 7 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
7
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Listening | 3.3 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Time Management | 3.3 | 2.8 | Not selected | 2.8 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Speaking | 3.3 | 2.6 | Not selected | 2.6 |
| Writing | 3.0 | 2.8 | Not selected | 2.8 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.0 | 2.6 | Not selected | 2.6 |
| Service Orientation | 3.0 | 2.6 | Not selected | 2.6 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
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Compare with Couriers and MessengersHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $55,680 | 390 | 2025 |
| Seattle, WA | $48,510 | 660 | 2025 |
| San Francisco, CA | $47,840 | 940 | 2025 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $47,160 | 240 | 2025 |
| Modesto, CA | $47,020 | 110 | 2025 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $46,850 | 420 | 2025 |
| Scranton, PA | $46,710 | 140 | 2025 |
| NV | $46,520 | 530 | 2025 |
| WA | $46,500 | 1,190 | 2025 |
| Denver, CO | $46,170 | 440 | 2025 |
| Napa, CA | $46,060 | 50 | 2025 |
| Rochester, MN | $46,000 | 60 | 2025 |
| Bellingham, WA | $45,920 | 60 | 2025 |
| Portland, OR | $45,650 | 520 | 2025 |
| VT | $45,600 | 50 | 2025 |
| DC | $45,210 | 120 | 2025 |
| OR | $45,170 | 850 | 2025 |
| CO | $45,140 | 640 | 2025 |
| CA | $44,970 | 7,240 | 2025 |
| MN | $44,860 | 440 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Couriers and Messengers to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.