If you’ve ever wondered why some letters arrive in a couple of days while others seem to take forever, you’re not alone. Maps showing United States Postal Service (USPS) First-Class Mail delivery times across the U.S. reveal just how much location matters.
Whether you’re sending a birthday card across town or important documents across the country, the delivery timeline for First-Class Mail can stretch from as few as two days to as many as five.
These differences reflect the USPS’s shifting logistics, mail hub locations and cost-cutting changes implemented in recent years. The maps below, centered on major U.S. cities across all parts of the country, reveal how location plays a big role in how quickly your mail arrives to different states.
