The short answer
No, USPS doesn’t deliver regular mail on Sunday. According to USPS, Priority Mail Express items and Amazon parcels are the only mail delivered on Sundays; Priority Mail Express Sunday delivery is available in many major markets for a $12.50 fee (Notice 123, October 4, 2026). Saturday is a regular delivery day, with deliveries normally made by 5 p.m. local time Monday through Saturday.
Does USPS deliver on Sunday?
Not for regular mail. Sunday isn’t a regular delivery day, so letters, postcards, bills, magazines, and other First-Class Mail stay in the system until Monday, or until Tuesday when Monday is a postal holiday.
USPS makes two exceptions. Its delayed-mail FAQ says, “Priority Mail Express mailpieces and Amazon parcels are the only pieces of mail delivered on Sunday.” If a carrier comes to your door on a Sunday, it’s almost always one of those two.
That’s why the honest answer depends on what you’re waiting for. A check in the mail, a jury summons, or a birthday card won’t show up on a Sunday. An Amazon order shipped through USPS might, and so might a Priority Mail Express item when Sunday delivery is available at the destination.
Saturday is different: it’s a full delivery day for letters and packages. So when people ask whether the mail comes on the weekend, the usual answer is “Saturday yes, Sunday no,” with the Sunday exceptions below.
Does USPS deliver on Saturday?
Yes. Saturday is a regular delivery day for letters and packages alike. USPS says that all deliveries should be made by 5:00 p.m. local time Monday through Saturday, so your mail carrier follows the same route on Saturday as on a weekday.
Saturday delivery stops only when Saturday is a postal holiday. Independence Day fell on a Saturday in 2026, for example. Our USPS holidays guide lists each 2026 holiday with its weekday, so check it before a long weekend instead of assuming the Post Office follows a bank or federal-employee calendar.
What does USPS deliver each day of the week?
The table below sums up the weekly pattern. It reflects USPS’s published rules, not a promise for your address; weather, staffing, and route changes can still delay a delivery.
Read the table by what you’re expecting. If it’s an envelope, a postcard, or anything with a stamp on it, count only Monday through Saturday. If it’s a package, ask which service the sender used: an Amazon parcel can come any day of the week, a Priority Mail Express item can come on Sunday where that option was paid for, and most other packages follow the regular Monday–Saturday schedule. When a postal holiday falls on a weekday, that day drops out of the regular delivery week just as Sunday does.
| Day | Regular mail (letters, postcards, First-Class Mail) | Packages | Priority Mail Express |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday–Friday | Delivered, normally by 5:00 p.m. local time | Delivered | Delivered; guaranteed by 6:00 p.m. local time to most addresses |
| Saturday | Delivered, normally by 5:00 p.m. local time | Delivered | Delivered |
| Sunday | Not delivered | Amazon parcels only | Delivered where available, for an extra fee |
| Postal holiday | Not delivered | Not regularly delivered | Delivered where available, for an extra fee |
Does USPS deliver packages on Sunday?
Only some. USPS names Amazon parcels and Priority Mail Express as the only mail delivered on Sunday, so a package you ordered from Amazon may arrive on a Sunday even though your letter carrier has the day off.
Most other packages don’t. USPS’s pages for Priority Mail (2–3 days) and USPS Ground Advantage (2–5 days) don’t list Sunday delivery as a feature, and Priority Mail’s page notes that its expected delivery date doesn’t come with a money-back guarantee. If a store ships your order by either service, plan on Monday–Saturday delivery.
So if tracking shows a Priority Mail or Ground Advantage package out for delivery late on Saturday and it doesn’t arrive, expect it on the next delivery day rather than on Sunday. When a package truly has to be there on a weekend, Priority Mail Express with the Sunday/Holiday option is the USPS service built for that.
USPS does publish a Sunday option for large business shippers. Notice 123 lists a Sunday/Holiday delivery add-on of $1.95 for Parcel Select Destination Entry parcels entered at the destination delivery unit. That’s a commercial price for shippers who drop parcels at local delivery units, not something you can add at the counter.
Does USPS deliver Priority Mail Express on Sunday?
Yes, where USPS offers it. USPS’s Priority Mail Express FAQ describes the service as delivering “7 days a week, 365 days a year (with limited exceptions)” to most US addresses and PO Boxes, with a money-back guarantee and delivery in 1–3 days.
There’s a catch: Sunday and holiday delivery is “available in many major markets for an additional fee.” In the current USPS price list (Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026), that Sunday/Holiday delivery fee is $12.50 on top of the Priority Mail Express postage. You choose the option when you mail the item, where it’s available for the destination.
If the item misses its guaranteed date and time, USPS refunds the postage and, if you paid it, the Sunday or holiday premium fee, subject to the exceptions in its refund rules. The Sunday/Holiday fee isn’t applied to Hold for Pickup items, even though the recipient may be able to collect the package on a Sunday or holiday.
Is Certified Mail delivered on Sunday?
No, not when it’s sent by First-Class Mail. Certified Mail is an extra service you add to First-Class Mail or Priority Mail, not a separate delivery network, so a certified letter mailed First-Class follows the same Monday–Saturday schedule as any other letter. The same goes for bills, statements, notices, and greeting cards.
This matters most for deadlines. If a landlord notice, a dispute letter, or a response to an agency has to be received by a Monday, it has to be delivered by Saturday, and a recipient who isn’t home on Saturday may not pick up a certified letter until the following week. Our guide to Certified Mail explains how delivery attempts and notices work.
What time does USPS deliver on Sunday?
USPS doesn’t publish a Sunday delivery window for Amazon parcels. Its general guidance is that it can’t tell you when a carrier will arrive at a specific location, because mail volume changes daily and delivery times aren’t guaranteed.
For Priority Mail Express, the scheduled delivery time is part of the guarantee: USPS says Priority Mail Express delivers to most US addresses and PO Boxes by 6 p.m. local time, and its Service Commitments tool shows the scheduled delivery time for your item. For regular mail Monday–Saturday, USPS says deliveries should be made by 5:00 p.m. local time, though traffic, staffing, severe weather, natural disasters, or route changes can push them later.
In other words, a Sunday delivery has no published time slot. If you’re waiting for an Amazon parcel or a Priority Mail Express item on a Sunday, the tracking page for that item is the best guide to when it’s out for delivery and when it arrives.
Are Post Offices open on Sunday?
Most are closed, but not all. USPS’s location finder includes “Sunday Hours” and “24-Hour Facilities” filters, so you can search near your ZIP Code for a Post Office or other USPS location with Sunday service.
An open lobby isn’t the same as Sunday delivery. Mail you hand over or drop in a box on Sunday is accepted into the network, but the letter itself won’t be delivered until Monday at the earliest. Check the specific location’s posted retail hours and last collection time before you go; many list “Sunday Closed” for both.
Does USPS deliver on holidays?
Not regular mail. Postal holidays work like Sundays: no regular delivery and Post Offices closed, with Priority Mail Express delivery available in many markets for the same Sunday/Holiday fee.
Rather than repeat the calendar here, our USPS holidays 2026 guide lists every postal holiday this year, including the ones that catch people out, such as Columbus Day (Monday, October 12, 2026) and Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11, 2026). For local disruptions from weather or emergencies, check USPS service alerts.
Do Sundays count toward delivery time?
Usually, yes, even though nothing is delivered that day. USPS describes First-Class Mail as taking 1–5 business days, not including Sundays and postal holidays, but the service standards count days more precisely. In its February 28, 2025 final rule, USPS said it excludes Sundays and holidays as transit days only for mail and packages that enter its network on a Saturday or the day before a holiday.
In practice, a letter mailed Friday keeps moving through processing over the weekend, so a Sunday later in the count is a transit day; a letter mailed Saturday doesn’t get that Sunday counted. Our guide on how long a letter takes to arrive walks through dated examples, including a Friday and a Saturday mailing side by side.
How do you get a letter there before the weekend?
Because letters aren’t delivered on Sunday, a deadline that falls on a Monday really means the letter must arrive by Saturday. Mail before your box’s last posted pickup time, allow the full First-Class range, and add a day for any postal holiday in between.
If you’re not near a Post Office, IRIS can print and mail a letter for you. Upload a US Letter-size PDF, enter the sender and recipient addresses, review everything and the total before paying, and IRIS mails it by USPS First-Class Mail to a US address, so Sunday and holiday rules apply the same way. A one-page black-and-white letter is $3.20, with no stamps or envelope needed. IRIS is an independent service, not USPS, and it doesn’t offer Priority Mail Express or guarantee delivery dates.
Sources & further reading
Product details checked against the IRIS API contract when this article was published. Platform references can change; consult the linked documentation when implementing.
- USPS FAQ: Delayed mail and packages
- USPS FAQ: Priority Mail Express service
- USPS: Priority Mail Express
- USPS Notice 123 price list
- USPS: Priority Mail
- USPS: Ground Advantage
- USPS FAQ: Types of First-Class Mail
- USPS: Insurance and extra services
- USPS location finder
- Federal Register: Service Standards for Market-Dominant Mail Products (February 28, 2025)
- USPS service alerts
Published by IRIS Postal Forms, operated by Great Lakes Computing Office LLC. Send a correction.