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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators?
Task-level automation exposure for Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
23%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$58,470 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
105,200 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-5.3%
employment change
7,300 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$48,880 – $66,750
Highest medians
District of Columbia $66,750
South Dakota $61,570
Guam $60,530
Iowa $60,530
New Jersey $60,530
Lowest medians
Indiana $48,880
Georgia $53,290
Kansas $54,540
North Carolina $55,350
Arizona $55,350
State figures come from the 43-5053 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 23%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 37%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 21%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 20%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 9/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
14 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 7%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 10%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 83%
11 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#8221 · Core · 12% automatable
Clear jams in sorting equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical office equipment servicing
Maintain office equipment in proper operating condition.
#8219 · Core · 30% automatable
Operate various types of equipment, such as computer scanning equipment, addressographs, mimeographs, optical character readers, and bar-code sorters.
physical manipulation — Operating computers is physical interface work
Operate computers or computerized equipment.
#8227 · Core · 12% automatable
Sort odd-sized mail by hand, sort mail that other workers have been unable to sort, and segregate items requiring special handling.
physical manipulation — Sorting physical mail requires hands-on handling
Sort mail.
#8213 · Supplemental · 25% automatable
Direct items according to established routing schemes, using computer-controlled keyboards or voice-recognition equipment.
physical manipulation — Routing physical mail requires sorting by hand
Route mail to correct destinations.
#8222 · Supplemental · 80% automatable
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.
information retrieval — Cross-checks shipping docs against records and rules
Verify shipping documentation.
#8214 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Bundle, label, and route sorted mail to designated areas, depending on destinations and according to established procedures and deadlines.
physical manipulation — Routing physical mail requires sorting by hand
Package objects for shipping. Route mail to correct destinations.
#8226 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Move containers of mail, using equipment, such as forklifts and automated "trains".
physical manipulation — Hands-on vehicle and equipment operation
Operate vehicles or material-moving equipment.
#8223 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Open and label mail containers.
physical manipulation — Attaching tags to containers is physical
Attach identification information to products, items or containers.
#8229 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Load and unload mail trucks, sometimes lifting containers of mail onto equipment that transports items to sorting stations.
physical manipulation — Physical loading of materials or equipment
Load materials or equipment. Unload materials or equipment.
#8218 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Distribute incoming mail into the correct boxes or pigeonholes.
physical manipulation — Sorting and delivering physical mail
Distribute incoming mail.
#8224 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Rewrap soiled or broken parcels.
physical manipulation — Manual packing for shipping
Package objects for shipping.
#8217 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Train new workers.
interpersonal — General personnel training is human-led and relational
Train personnel.
#8220 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Search directories to find correct addresses for redirected mail.
information retrieval — Data gathering aided; verification and consent human
Obtain personal or financial information about customers or applicants.
#8230 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Cancel letter or parcel post stamps by hand.
physical manipulation — Preparing physical mail requires hands-on assembly
Prepare outgoing mail.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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