You probably don't think about the Post Office much until you're staring at a stack of wedding invites or a stray property tax bill that refuses to be paid online. Then you dig through that junk drawer, find a half-used sheet of stamps from three years ago, and wonder: Is this even enough postage anymore? Honestly, the price of stamp today has become a moving target, and if you haven't checked the rates lately, you’re in for a bit of a shock.
Inflation hits everything. Bread, gas, streaming services—and yeah, the humble First-Class Mail letter.
But here’s the thing. The United States Postal Service (USPS) isn't just raising prices for the fun of it. They’re stuck in a bit of a "death spiral" where mail volume drops but the number of delivery points—literally every single house in America—keeps growing every day. To keep the lights on without taxpayer subsidies (since they're meant to be self-funded), they’ve leaned hard into a strategy called "Delivering for America." Basically, that’s a fancy way of saying they’re going to keep raising prices twice a year until the math finally works out.
What you're actually paying at the counter right now
As of early 2026, the price of stamp today for a standard one-ounce First-Class Mail letter is 77 cents.
Wait, didn't it used to be like 50 cents? Not that long ago, actually. If you feel like the price is jumping every time you blink, you aren't imagining things. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been pretty vocal about the need for "price stability," which, in government-speak, ironically means predictable, frequent increases. We’ve moved away from the era where a stamp price would stay the same for five years. Now, we expect a hike every January and July.
It’s a massive shift in how the USPS operates. For decades, they were hesitant to raise rates because they didn't want to drive people toward email. Now? They realize the people still using mail have to use mail, or they're businesses that can't easily pivot.
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The breakdown of current postage costs
It’s not just the standard letter that got pricier. If you’re sending a postcard to your grandma or mailing a heavy manila envelope, the rates have scaled up across the board.
- Postcards: These will currently set you back 56 cents. It’s still the cheapest way to send a physical message, but the gap between a letter and a postcard is narrowing.
- International Letters: Sending something overseas? That’s $1.65 now.
- Additional Ounces: If your wedding invite is heavy because of all those inserts and RSVP cards, each extra ounce costs 24 cents.
The "Forever" stamp remains the greatest hedge against inflation most of us will ever own. If you bought a sheet of stamps back in 2019 when they were 55 cents, they still work today for a 77-cent mailing. You basically made a 40% return on your money just by letting paper sit in a drawer. Not bad for a government product.
Why the price of stamp today keeps climbing
It’s easy to blame "the government" or "inefficiency," but the reality is more nuanced. The USPS is a logistical miracle that we take for granted. They deliver to the bottom of the Grand Canyon via mule and to remote Alaskan villages via bush plane, all for the same 77 cents it costs to send a letter across the street in Manhattan.
Labor costs are the biggest driver. The USPS is one of the nation's largest employers, and with union contracts, healthcare, and pension obligations, their overhead is staggering. When gas prices spike, their fleet of aging Grumman LLVs (those boxy white trucks) eats through the budget. Most of those trucks are thirty years old and get terrible gas mileage. They’re finally being replaced with newer, electric-capable models, but that infrastructure costs billions up front.
Then there's the "Pre-funding Mandate" hangover. For years, the USPS was forced by a 2006 law to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future. No other agency or private company had to do that. While the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 finally fixed that accounting nightmare, the USPS is still digging out of a massive financial hole.
The psychology of the stamp
Is 77 cents a lot?
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If you compare us to the rest of the world, we’re actually getting a bargain. In the UK, a "First Class" stamp (Royal Mail) is currently sitting at £1.65, which is over $2.00 USD. In Germany, you’re looking at about 85 cents. We’ve been spoiled by cheap mail for a long time.
The psychological barrier is the real issue. We remember when stamps were 20 cents. We remember "penny" increases. Now that the jumps are 2, 3, or 5 cents at a time, it feels like we're being nickeled and dimed.
But let's be honest. If you send ten letters a month, the price of stamp today being 77 cents instead of 60 cents only costs you an extra $1.70. That’s less than the price of a candy bar. For businesses mailing 100,000 invoices, though? That’s where the pain is real. It’s why so many companies are aggressively pushing you to "go paperless." They aren't just doing it for the environment; they're doing it because the USPS is making paper communication a luxury good.
How to beat the system (Legally)
You can actually save money if you're smart about how you buy.
First, buy in bulk before the scheduled hikes. The USPS usually announces price changes months in advance. If you know a hike is coming in July, go to Costco or the local post office in June and buy five books of Forever stamps. You are essentially "locking in" the current rate for the rest of your life.
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Second, watch out for "discount" stamps online. If you see an ad on social media for "50% off Forever Stamps," it is almost certainly a scam involving counterfeit stamps. These are huge business now. They look real, but the USPS has started using sophisticated scanners that can detect fake ink or missing phosphorescent tags. If you use a fake stamp, your mail might get intercepted, destroyed, or returned to you with a "postage due" bill for the recipient. It's not worth the risk. Buy from the USPS, grocery stores, or reputable big-box retailers only.
Third, consider "Metered Mail" for business. If you use a postage meter (like Pitney Bowes), the rate is often a few cents cheaper than a physical stamp. It adds up if you're a small business owner.
The future of the mailbox
Where does it end? Experts like Kevin Yoder, a former congressman and advocate for postal reform, suggest that the USPS is trying to find the "price ceiling"—the point where people stop mailing things entirely.
We aren't there yet.
Direct mail (junk mail, let's be real) is actually surprisingly effective for marketers because our email inboxes are so cluttered. Getting a physical catalog or a glossy flyer is "rare" enough now that people actually look at it. Because of this, the USPS is leaning into package delivery to compete with UPS and FedEx, while treating the letter mail as a premium service that pays for the "last mile" infrastructure.
The price of stamp today is a reflection of a world that is moving away from paper but hasn't quite let go of the security of a physical envelope. There is something legally binding and "official" about a letter that an email just can't replicate. You don't get a certified email to notify you of a lawsuit; you get a piece of mail.
Actionable steps to manage your postage costs:
- Check your stash: Look for "Forever" stamps. If they say "Forever" on them, they are worth 77 cents today regardless of what you paid for them.
- Mark your calendar: Anticipate a price jump every January and July. Set a reminder for June and December to check the news and stock up if a hike is confirmed.
- Check the weight: Anything over one ounce (about 4 sheets of standard printer paper in a standard envelope) needs extra postage. Don't guess. Use a kitchen scale if you have to.
- Use postcards for short notes: You save over 20 cents per mailing, and honestly, people like getting postcards more than letters anyway.
- Avoid "The Loop": Don't buy stamps from third-party resellers on eBay or shady websites. If the price is too good to be true, the stamp is a fake.
The Post Office isn't going anywhere, but the era of the "cheap" letter is officially over. We're paying for the convenience of a network that connects every single door in the country. When you look at it that way, 77 cents to send a piece of paper 3,000 miles in three days is actually kind of a miracle.