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Industries at a Glance
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Couriers and Messengers: NAICS 492
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About the Couriers and Messengers subsector
The couriers and messengers subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.
Industries in the Couriers and Messengers subsector provide intercity and/or local delivery of parcels and documents (including express delivery services) without operating under a universal service obligation. These articles can be described as those that may be handled by one person without using special equipment. This allows the collection, pick-up, and delivery operations to be done with limited labor costs and minimal equipment. Sorting and transportation activities, where necessary, are generally mechanized. The restriction to small parcels partly distinguishes these establishments from those in the transportation industries. The complete network of courier services establishments also distinguishes these transportation services from local messenger and delivery establishments in this subsector. This includes the establishments that perform intercity transportation as well as establishments that, under contract to them, perform local pick-up and delivery. Messengers, which usually deliver within a metropolitan or single urban area, may use bicycle, foot, small truck, or van.
North American Industry Classification System
The couriers and messengers subsector consists of these industry groups:
- Couriers: NAICS 4921
- Local Messengers and Local Delivery: NAICS 4922
Workforce Statistics
This section provides information relating to employment in couriers and messengers. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment
| Data series | Back data |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
Apr. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
1,172.4 | 1,185.7 | (p)1,175.7 | (p)1,184.1 |
|
|
1,095.4 | 1,076.1 | (p)1,021.7 | ||
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Employment by Occupation
| Data series | Employment, 2024 |
|---|---|
| 18,450 | |
| 11,170 | |
| 9,040 | |
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
51,980 |
| 401,460 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for couriers and messengers.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
Earnings and Hours
This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in couriers and messengers.
Earnings and Hours of All Employees
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2024 |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
$25.66 | $25.44 | $25.23 | (p)$25.41 | |
|
|
36.2 | 31.6 | 32.0 | (p)32.1 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2024 |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
$24.45 | $24.11 | $24.07 | (p)$24.26 | |
|
|
37.1 | 32.4 | 33.5 | (p)33.2 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings by Occupation
| Data series | Wages, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Annual | |||
| Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
| $18.69 | $19.47 | $38,870 | $40,490 | |
| $22.62 | $23.97 | $47,050 | $49,860 | |
| $24.50 | $25.86 | $50,960 | $53,780 | |
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
$27.96 | $32.45 | $58,160 | $67,490 |
| $22.81 | $27.31 | $47,440 | $56,800 | |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses
This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in couriers and messengers. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.
| Data series | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalities |
||||
| 57 | ||||
|
There was a series break beginning with 2023 data due to NAICS 2022. Data for years prior to 2023 are available at www.bls.gov/iif. |
||||
| Data series | 2023 |
|---|---|
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers |
|
| 9.2 | |
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer |
7.6 |
| 4.1 | |
| 3.5 | |
|
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. |
|
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
Prices
This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.
| Data series | Back data |
Jan. 2025 |
Feb. 2025 |
Mar. 2025 |
Apr. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
(p)345.270 | (p)342.895 | (p)342.358 | (p)341.871 | |
Percent change from previous month |
(p)4.0% | (p)-0.7% | (p)-0.2% | (p)-0.1% | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Producer Price Indexes)
Workplace Trends
This section presents data on the number of establishments in couriers and messengers. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.
Establishments
| Data series | Back data |
4th quarter 2023 |
1st quarter 2024 |
2nd quarter 2024 |
3rd quarter 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of establishments |
|||||
|
|
23,280 | (p)23,287 | (p)23,089 | (p)23,027 | |
|
|
3 | (p)3 | (p)3 | (p)3 | |
|
|
1 | (p)1 | (p)1 | (p)1 | |
|
Footnotes |
|||||
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
Productivity
This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked. Growth in unit labor costs represent the annual change in the labor cost of producing one unit of output.
| Data series | Back data |
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
-0.5 | -7.5 | -7.0 | ||
|
|
11.4 | -0.1 | -3.4 | 0.8 | |
|
|
10.9 | -7.6 | -10.4 | ||
|
|
12.8 | 11.4 | 18.9 |
(Source: Productivity)
Data extracted on: May 20, 2025