How Much does It Cost to Deliver Mail?

In 2009, it cost about $235 per residence to deliver the U.S. mail. Even though the United States Postal Service (USPS) faces competition from several mailing companies and from e-mail, about 177 billion pieces of mail were processed through the USPS in 2009 — that's about 584 million per day. In addition to processing mail, the USPS also processes passports — about 7.3 million in 2009, and money orders, about 135 million that year.

Other fun postal facts:

• The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) revenue in 2009: $68.09 billion


• Its net income that same year: $-3.79 billion


• Benjamin Franklin established the first post office in 1775, the USPO.


• In 1792, it became part of the U.S. Cabinet and was called the United States Post Office Department, or U.S.P.O.D.


• While part of the Cabinet, the Postmaster General was last in line to take the U.S. presidential office in case of emergency.


• Mail was delivered seven days per week until 1912.


• The USPS didn't become an independent operation until the early 1980s — until that time, it received tax-payer money.


• In 2009, the USPS employed 656,000 people — the second largest employer in the U.S., next to Walmart.


• The USPS is considered a law enforcement agency: it protects all facets of the U.S. mail system from crime and misuse.


• More than 200 U.S. federal laws regulate and protect the U.S. mail system.


• The USPS can enforce its monopoly: in 1993 it raided the Equifax offices — a U.S. credit reporting agency — to find out if the overnight mail Equifax was sending through a competitor was truly urgent. It was not, and Equifax was fined $30,000 US Dollars.