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Couriers and Messengers · SOC 43-5021

Couriers and Messengers Salary in the San Jose Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area

Figures describe the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not San Jose city limits.

Median annual wage$55,680
Median hourly wage$26.77

Couriers and Messengers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area earned a median of $55,680 per year ($26.77 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $42,020 at the 10th percentile to $69,100 at the 90th. BLS estimates 390 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Couriers and Messengers in the San Jose metro area earn more than $55,680 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $47,030 and $62,640.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$42,020$47,030$55,680$62,640$69,100
Hourly$20.20$22.61$26.77$30.11$33.22

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • San Jose metro areathis metro area
    $55,680
  • Californiastate (CA)
    $44,970
  • United Statesnational
    $39,200

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +24% vs California overall and +42% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$21,840$33,120$44,400$55,680Ponce, PR — $21,840Aguadilla, PR — $21,930Arecibo, PR — $22,210Mayaguez, PR — $22,230San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $23,760Tuscaloosa, AL — $29,280Bowling Green, KY — $30,170Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA — $30,190Johnstown, PA — $30,700Altoona, PA — $30,770Monroe, LA — $31,200Laredo, TX — $31,530Baton Rouge, LA — $31,910Mobile, AL — $31,970Lake Charles, LA — $32,130Ocala, FL — $32,350Rome, GA — $32,510Columbus, GA-AL — $32,630Johnson City, TN — $32,710Alexandria, LA — $32,770Flint, MI — $32,880Brownsville-Harlingen, TX — $32,940College Station-Bryan, TX — $33,260Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL — $33,700New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $34,100Punta Gorda, FL — $34,190Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC — $34,390Sioux Falls, SD-MN — $34,400Athens-Clarke County, GA — $34,510Idaho Falls, ID — $34,550Montgomery, AL — $34,590Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $34,810Charleston, WV — $34,840Springfield, IL — $34,850Reading, PA — $34,920Tallahassee, FL — $34,940Omaha, NE-IA — $35,080Clarksville, TN-KY — $35,090Huntsville, AL — $35,170Lafayette, LA — $35,340Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC — $35,360Abilene, TX — $35,400Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA — $35,490Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $35,490Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $35,620Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI — $35,730Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $35,750Sheboygan, WI — $35,750Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $35,750Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $35,780Roanoke, VA — $35,890Midland, MI — $35,900Lexington-Fayette, KY — $35,910McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — $35,990Shreveport-Bossier City, LA — $35,990Wichita, KS — $36,000Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $36,050Waco, TX — $36,100Canton-Massillon, OH — $36,270Chattanooga, TN-GA — $36,310Jackson, MS — $36,360Macon-Bibb County, GA — $36,430Binghamton, NY — $36,460Utica-Rome, NY — $36,500La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN — $36,510Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $36,540Fayetteville, NC — $36,550Lancaster, PA — $36,550Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $36,560Jacksonville, FL — $36,610Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR — $36,630Appleton, WI — $36,690Florence, SC — $36,710Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $36,740Twin Falls, ID — $36,780Birmingham, AL — $36,820Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $36,910Green Bay, WI — $36,930Evansville, IN — $36,940Erie, PA — $37,020Syracuse, NY — $37,040Tyler, TX — $37,040Greenville, NC — $37,050Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — $37,070Tucson, AZ — $37,070Janesville-Beloit, WI — $37,080Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL — $37,080Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC — $37,090Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $37,090Winston-Salem, NC — $37,180Champaign-Urbana, IL — $37,300Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $37,310Corpus Christi, TX — $37,310Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $37,320Wilmington, NC — $37,330Rockford, IL — $37,450Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $37,470Greensboro-High Point, NC — $37,510Stockton-Lodi, CA — $37,510Rochester, NY — $37,520Columbia, SC — $37,550Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $37,560Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $37,650Savannah, GA — $37,670Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $37,680St. Cloud, MN — $37,790Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $37,820Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $37,820Naples-Marco Island, FL — $37,840Peoria, IL — $37,850Salinas, CA — $37,920Lubbock, TX — $37,930Corvallis, OR — $37,980Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $38,100Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $38,180Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $38,190Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $38,190Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $38,200Boise City, ID — $38,260Richmond, VA — $38,270Amarillo, TX — $38,280Burlington, NC — $38,340Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $38,390Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $38,410Port St. Lucie, FL — $38,420Gainesville, FL — $38,520Saginaw, MI — $38,550El Paso, TX — $38,570Charlottesville, VA — $38,580Longview, TX — $38,580Urban Honolulu, HI — $38,580Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $38,730Reno, NV — $38,730Lincoln, NE — $38,740Cedar Rapids, IA — $38,770Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $38,780Columbus, OH — $38,790Toledo, OH — $38,810Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $38,910Oklahoma City, OK — $38,970Asheville, NC — $38,980Topeka, KS — $38,980Dubuque, IA — $39,020Albuquerque, NM — $39,080Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $39,100Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $39,110North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $39,110Redding, CA — $39,110Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $39,140Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $39,160Tulsa, OK — $39,160Fort Wayne, IN — $39,230Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $39,270Barnstable Town, MA — $39,290Spartanburg, SC — $39,290York-Hanover, PA — $39,290Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA — $39,340Cleveland, OH — $39,410Albany, GA — $39,480Pueblo, CO — $39,590Visalia, CA — $39,600Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA — $39,630Raleigh-Cary, NC — $39,650Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $39,670Kennewick-Richland, WA — $39,710Traverse City, MI — $39,710Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $39,720Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $39,860San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $39,860Springfield, MA — $40,010Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $40,050Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $40,080Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $40,160Manchester-Nashua, NH — $40,320Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $40,340Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $40,370Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $40,910Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $40,980Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $41,030Kansas City, MO-KS — $41,050Madison, WI — $41,080Ogden, UT — $41,080Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $41,130New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $41,140Springfield, MO — $41,410Worcester, MA — $41,420Winchester, VA-WV — $41,480Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $41,710Anchorage, AK — $41,720Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $41,860Pittsburgh, PA — $42,250Salem, OR — $42,280New Haven, CT — $42,300Colorado Springs, CO — $42,380San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $42,440Fort Collins-Loveland, CO — $42,490Knoxville, TN — $42,610St. Louis, MO-IL — $42,680Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $42,800Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $42,840Medford, OR — $43,160Akron, OH — $43,240Eugene-Springfield, OR — $43,740Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $43,760Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $43,830Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $43,920Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $44,040Duluth, MN-WI — $44,200Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $44,220Fresno, CA — $44,370Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $44,760Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $44,840Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $45,650Bellingham, WA — $45,920Rochester, MN — $46,000Napa, CA — $46,060Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $46,170Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $46,710Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $46,850Modesto, CA — $47,020Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $47,160San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $47,840Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $48,510San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $55,680

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The San Jose metro area has the 1st-highest published median for this occupation among the 224 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in California

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for couriers and messengers, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • San Jose metro areathis page
    $55,680
  • San Francisco metro area
    $47,840
  • Modesto metro area
    $47,020
  • Napa metro area
    $46,060
  • Sacramento metro area
    $44,760
  • Fresno metro area
    $44,370
  • Los Angeles metro area
    $43,760

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Office Clerks, General$58,840Customer Service Representatives$60,480Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive$62,940First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers$95,010Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks$66,130Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants$69,350

Highest-paying metro areas for couriers and messengerss · Highest-paying occupations in San Jose Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.