The United States Postal Service needs reliable, accurate data about how households nationwide use mail. 

In 2023, U.S. households sent and received over 90 billion pieces of mail. As the role of mail in daily life continues to evolve alongside the ever-increasing role of the internet in communications and online bill pay, understanding how households use and interact with mail services today has become increasingly important. The United States Postal Service (USPS) needs an accurate picture and detailed data on how households send and receive mail across the U.S, in essence how mail is used in everyday life. These insights are important for shaping USPS services so that they can keep up with changing needs and trends. 

NORC is updating and conducting USPS’s comprehensive survey on household mail.

Since 1987, thousands of households have participated in the USPS Household Mail Survey, making it one of the country’s most trusted studies of mail trends. In 2025, USPS chose NORC to help the service innovate, update, and conduct its comprehensive survey of how households use and interact with mail. Our enhancements to the study include shortening the survey to focus on key measures and enhancing user experience through a redesigned web survey that prioritizes ease of reporting.

We will ask participants about various topics using this online survey or by phone. Those topics include the amount of mail participants send and receive, the household’s use of communication technologies like email, their bill-payment behavior, and their attitudes towards advertising. Respondents will also be asked to record—either online or in paper diaries—all the mail they send and receive in a one-week period.