As of June 2026, Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators has an AI-exposure score of 54/100 (Elevated exposure) on the AI-Safe Careers index, blending O*NET tasks, the Anthropic Economic Index, the Penn/OpenAI study, and BLS data. This is an estimate of task exposure, not a prediction of job loss.
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
More exposed than 45% of the roles we track. Median pay ~US$58,470. About 7,800 projected openings a year (BLS 2024–34 — growth plus replacement).
Pay & demand figures are US medians (BLS, in USD) — your local figures will differ. Your exposure score applies broadly.
How you compare to similar Administrative roles
Your tasks, by AI exposure
- Operate various types of equipment, such as computer scanning equipment, addressographs, mimeographs, optical character readers, and bar-code sorters.
- Clear jams in sorting equipment.
- Sort odd-sized mail by hand, sort mail that other workers have been unable to sort, and segregate items requiring special handling.
- Search directories to find correct addresses for redirected mail.
- Distribute incoming mail into the correct boxes or pigeonholes.
- Train new workers.
- Cancel letter or parcel post stamps by hand.
- Direct items according to established routing schemes, using computer-controlled keyboards or voice-recognition equipment.
- Load and unload mail trucks, sometimes lifting containers of mail onto equipment that transports items to sorting stations.
- Check items to ensure that addresses are legible and correct, that sufficient postage has been paid or the appropriate documentation is attached, and that items are in a suitable condition for processing.
- Bundle, label, and route sorted mail to designated areas, depending on destinations and according to established procedures and deadlines.
- Open and label mail containers.
- Rewrap soiled or broken parcels.
- Move containers of mail, using equipment, such as forklifts and automated "trains".
No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as automatable (93%).
Safer adjacent roles
Your AI-Safe Career Report
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