What does it cost to hire a mail clerk in Grand Rapids?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $39,390 median wage in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $7,878 to $11,817 on the first year salary alone.

What should an offer for a mail clerk in Grand Rapids look like?

Employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area pay mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service a median of $39,390, with the middle half of the market between $35,930 and $45,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $35,930 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.

Hiring a mail clerk in Grand Rapids, MI

Employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area pay mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service a median of $39,390 a year, with the middle half of the market between $35,930 and $45,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-9051). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do Grand Rapids residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area pay?

Grand Rapids residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $37,382 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,010 as the median of the 44 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 20%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole office and administrative support group, not this one role. In the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area the group covers 44 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from library assistants, clerical at $30,430 to brokerage clerks at $68,100 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service at $39,390 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 44 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what Grand Rapids residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does a mail clerk earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service by employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-9051.
25th percentile	$35,930
Median	$39,390
75th percentile	$45,430

Half of mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in this area earn between $35,930 and $45,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $35,930 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 43-9051 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What Grand Rapids residents earn

$37,382

Median annual earnings of Grand Rapids residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 10,559 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Wrap packages or bundles by hand, or by using tying machines.
Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing.
Remove containers of sorted mail or parcels and transfer them to designated areas according to established procedures.
Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary.
Affix postage to packages or letters by hand, or stamp materials, using postage meters.

Task statements for SOC 43-9051, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 43-9051 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Grand Rapids?

This is a job zone two: some preparation needed occupation. These occupations usually require a high school diploma. O*NET OnLine, SOC 43-9051.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 40.1% of Grand Rapids adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of Grand Rapids aged 25 and over.

The average Grand Rapids commute runs 19.4 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 12.3% of Grand Rapids workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for Grand Rapids.

How big is this industry in Kent County?

Administrative and support services in Kent County employs 51,427 people across 998 establishments, at an average wage of $636 a week. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 Q1, private ownership, NAICS 56.

Michigan does not release to the Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, so this county carries QCEW instead. QCEW counts jobs and payroll and publishes no hires, separations or turnover rate, so there is no local churn figure for Kent County and none is implied here. The employment count tells you how deep the local employer base is: spread across many employers, which means candidates have somewhere else to go and counteroffers are common.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $39,390 median in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $7,878 to $11,817 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring a mail clerk in Grand Rapids

What does it cost to hire a mail clerk in Grand Rapids?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $39,390 median wage in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $7,878 to $11,817 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for a mail clerk in Grand Rapids look like?: Employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area pay mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service a median of $39,390, with the middle half of the market between $35,930 and $45,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $35,930 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do Grand Rapids residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area pay?: Grand Rapids residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $37,382 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,010 as the median of the 44 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 20%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in Grand Rapids?: This is a job zone 2 occupation and does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 40.1% of Grand Rapids adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501).

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a mail clerk somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids is the 2nd largest of 2 Michigan cities in this dataset.