Couriers and Messengers Career, Salary and Skills
Couriers and Messengers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $39,200 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 68,640. Wage data is published for 278 locations.
Occupation description
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
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months
National salary and employment
Median annual
$39,200
Hourly median
$18.85
Employment
68,640
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Active Listening | 3.25 | 2.88 |
| Time Management | 3.25 | 2.75 |
| Speaking | 3.25 | 2.62 |
| Writing | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| Service Orientation | 3.00 | 2.62 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.00 | 2.62 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.88 | 2.00 |
| Coordination | 2.75 | 2.38 |
| Monitoring | 2.75 | 2.12 |
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.
Technology
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Word
- Route mapping software
Couriers and Messengers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in NYMedian $38,740 · Employment 7,320
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in CAMedian $44,970 · Employment 7,240
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in New York, NYMedian $41,140 · Employment 6,690
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in FLMedian $37,740 · Employment 4,910
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in TXMedian $39,260 · Employment 4,710
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in NCMedian $39,100 · Employment 3,350
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in PAMedian $39,700 · Employment 3,330
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $43,760 · Employment 3,030
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in PRMedian $23,160 · Employment 2,910
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in WIMedian $36,910 · Employment 2,560
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in San Juan, PRMedian $23,760 · Employment 2,290
- Couriers and Messengers Salary in GAMedian $39,400 · Employment 2,100
Related careers
- Switchboard Operators, Including Answering ServiceNational median $38,630
- Order ClerksNational median $46,170
- First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle OperatorsNational median not published
- Shuttle Drivers and ChauffeursNational median $37,290
- Railroad Conductors and YardmastersNational median $78,000
- Aircraft Cargo Handling SupervisorsNational median $58,170
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, HandNational median $40,240
- Freight ForwardersNational median $52,260
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.