A recent study by Use Postal has revealed the areas of the country where the public is most and least served by their local post office, and which have suffered the most closures.

• One in three post offices has shut down since the 1800s, with just 26,428 of the 39,427 that have operated in the US still open and functioning.
• Kentucky has seen the most post office closures, as 64% of the post offices ever opened in the state are now shut.
• New Jersey has the highest rate of post offices still open, having closed just 12% of the post offices that have ever opened in the state.
• A typical USPS post office serves 12,843 people, with those in Florida having the highest population-to-post office ratio (51,708:1).
• Connecticut’s Pleasant Valley ZIP Code has the highest population-to-post office ratio, with 114,453 people per post office currently open locally.

Declining Post Offices

Analysis of the USPS’s Post Master Finder by Use Postal found that since the 1800s, a total of 39,427 post offices have opened their doors across the country. However, as of 2025, only 67% remain active and operating, with 26,428 post offices still open.

This decline has been felt most in Kentucky, where 64% of the post offices that have ever opened are now shut. Figures show that since the first post office in the country, a total of 1892 have opened in Kentucky; however, this has now fallen to just 681.

West Virginia has the second-highest closure rate (54%), with 638 of the 1,400 post offices still open, followed by Virginia (53%), Wyoming (51%), and North Dakota (47%).

The majority of closures nationally occurred through the 1960s and into the 1990s, with a little under 6,500 closures, of which 2,568 occurred in the 1960s. Since 2000, closures have slowed, with just 1,634 as of the latest reporting.

To understand how continuing closures could dismantle the post network, Use Postal applied a linear predictive model. Based on a current average closure rate of 112 post officers per year, Use Postal predicts that all post offices will be closed by 2252.

At the current linear rate, three states could see all post offices closed by the turn of the century. Based on their current closure rates, Kentucky (2068), West Virginia (2087), and North Dakota (2099) could all be without any post offices within 75 years.

It’s worth noting that actual closure rates are likely to be accelerated or slowed by changes in policy (currently under debate), technology shifts, and population dynamics.

Stretched & Busiest Service

On average, there are 12,843 people per post office in the US. However, this average figure varies widely between states. A typical post office in Florida serves approximately 51,708 residents (including children), while a typical post office in Vermont serves 2,475 people.

Behind Florida, Nevada (39,847) and Arizona (39,287) have the second- and third-highest numbers of people served per post office. Meanwhile, California (37,842) and Texas (22,479) round off the five states with the highest ratios.

At the other end of the scale, Vermont has the lowest number of people per post office, with just 2,475. North Dakota has the second-lowest population-to-post office ratio (2,700:1), followed by West Virginia (2,774:1), South Dakota (2,935:1), and Maine (3,260:1).

Narrowing the Post Master Finder data further, Postal found that Connecticut’s Pleasant Valley ZIP Code (06063) has the highest ratio of people per post office. Based on the latest population data, a total of 114,453 people live in and/or are likely served by the Pleasant Valley post office.

While branches, stations, and postal stores typically supplement each post office, Pleasant Valley, as a central hub with a dedicated postmaster, serves the most people in the US.

The ZIP Code and post office with the second-highest population to serve is 78660, better known as Pflugerville. A total of 110,955 people are estimated to be centrally serviced by the single post office in the city, with help from branches, stations, and stores.

Of the remaining eight ZIP Codes and areas behind Pleasant Valley and Pflugerville, six are based in California:

In response to the study, Max Clarke, CEO of Use Postal, comments:

“While email and digital communication has reduced our dependency on mail, it still plays a huge role for business. More than many people realize.

Every year, billions of important business documents, packages, and general mail are sent and received through USPS. Without the postal service, a lot of businesses, particularly in the service sector, would grind to a halt.

As a business that receives mail for others, we see firsthand that the demand for post offices, and the postal service generally, won’t be going away any time soon.”