USPS wants to raise first-class stamp price to as high as 95 cents
Americans may soon pay almost $1 to mail a first-class letter.
The U.S. Postal Service wants to raise first-class stamp prices to between 90 cents and 95 cents as it faces a financial crunch, Postmaster General David Steiner said Tuesday at a congressional hearing. The current price of a first-class stamp is 78 cents.
The USPS has for years struggled with high costs and dwindling mail volume, resulting in a $9 billion loss in 2025. While the Postal Service has a 10-year plan to reduce expenses and restore profitability, the agency still faces major financial challenges, with Steiner telling the House Oversight Committee that the USPS is at risk of running out of cash in 12 months.
"As you all know, there are only three things that any company can do to improve financial performance — sell more products, raise prices or cut costs," Steiner said in his congressional testimony. "On the pricing side, we need to look for higher prices on both our package and mail products."
Raising the price of first-class stamps to as high as 95 cents "would largely solve our controllable loss," he added.
Cheaper than France
Steiner pointed out that the current price of 78 cents for first-class stamps is the lowest "in the industrialized world." By comparison, France and the U.K. charge about $3 and $2.50, respectively, for the same service.
"And the longest distance that letters have to travel in those countries is about 600 miles — smaller than the state of Texas. We deliver from the tip of Puerto Rico to the tip of Alaska for 78 cents," he added.
Steiner, who took over as Postmaster General in July and previously served on FedEx's board of directors, stepped into the role after Louis DeJoy left the agency in early 2025.
In 2021, DeJoy instituted the 10-year plan to return the agency to profitability by 2024. Those changes included multiple hikes in stamp prices and an overhaul of its regional transportation system, including no longer guaranteeing that mail would receive a postmark the day it was mailed.
Stark warning
Despite DeJoy's plan, the Postal Service's losses have continued to mount. On Tuesday, Steiner told lawmakers that the USPS needs to make more changes to stay afloat.
"I am not sure that the American public is aware that the Postal Service is at a critical juncture," he said. Without changes, "Less than a year from now, the Postal Service will be unable to deliver the mail if we maintain the status quo."
Aside from raising the price of a first-class stamp, Steiner said the USPS should raise its borrowing limit from the current level of $15 billion, which has been in place since the 1990s. He also called for reforms to the agency's pension program by allowing it to invest in securities other than Treasury bills, which he said could help boost investment returns.