2022 USPS Prices Announced

The holiday shipping season is in full swing, and like all years prior, USPS has wasted no time announcing their annual rate increase for next year. USPS has announced its 2022 prices for all of its shipping services, and we’ve laid out each one here. All things considered, the 2022 upcoming rate increases aren’t too different from the temporary holiday rate increase that USPS imposed on October 3rd, 2021. However, shippers should note that the comparisons we’ve made in this article are based on the 2021 rates without the temporary holiday rate increase.

The 2022 USPS Price Changes

Note: the following price increases are based on Commercial Pricing rates, not Retail Rates (or the prices you’d pay at the Post Office). Commercial Pricing represents the deepest level of discounts that USPS typically reserves for huge shippers sending more than 50,000 packages per year. You can access special discounts such as USPS Commercial Pricing when you use USPS shipping software to buy postage online.

Domestic USPS Services

First Class Package

The price of First Class Package Service will increase by the same amount across all weight tiers, except for the 1-4 ounce tier. The 1-4 ounce tier will increase by 36 cents, while all the other weight tiers for First Class Package will go up by 30 cents.

Priority Mail (weight-based)

Weight-based Priority Mail rates are increasing in some cases, and decreasing in others, which makes it a bit difficult to summarize. Prices for shipments in the 10-25 lb range traveling to Zones 1-8 will decrease the most. The highest price bump we saw is a 15% increase for packages of any weight traveling to US Territories (Zone 9), and the sharpest price decline is a 27% decrease for a 19-pound package traveling to Zone 6. Ultimately, prices all depends on the weight of your shipment, and how far it needs to travel to the final destination.

Priority Mail Cubic

The changes to Priority Mail Cubic rates in 2022 are a bit all over the place. Prices will decrease in some cases (mostly for shipments traveling to Zones 1-4), while the cost of shipments going to Zones 5-8 and US Territories will increase by a significant amount. On average, prices for each of the cubic tiers will increase by the following amounts:

1st tier: 4%
2nd tier: 6%
3rd tier: 8%
4th tier: 9%
5th tier: 8%

Learn which cubic pricing tier your package falls into.

Priority Mail Express

On average, the cost of Priority Mail Express Service is set to increase by between 3-7%, depending on the weight of your shipment and how far it’s traveling. The Priority Mail Express Flat Rate services will increase by the following amounts:

Flat Rate Envelopes: +75 cents
Legal Flat Rate Envelopes: +80 cents
Padded Flat Rate Envelopes: +70 cents

Priority Mail Flat Rate

All Priority Mail Flat Rate sub-services will change by the following amounts:

Flat Rate Envelopes: +35 cents
Legal Flat Rate Envelopes: +35 cents
Padded Flat Rate Envelopes: +45 cents
Small Flat Rate Boxes: +35 cents
Medium Flat Rate Boxes: +50 cents
Large Flat Rate Boxes: -10 cents

Priority Mail Regional Rate

The changes to Regional Rate prices are also a bit scattered, based on whether you’re using Box A or B, how far your shipment needs to travel. Prices for Regional Rate Box A are increasing, and will go up anywhere from 5.9% to 12.8%.

Price changes for Box B are a bit more complicated. The cost of shipping to Zones 6, 7, and 8 is decreasing by 5.1%, 2.5%, and 1.7%, respectively. Prices for shipping to Zones 1-5 and Zone 9 are increasing, on the other hand, anywhere from 0.9% to 8.4%.

Media Mail

Rates for Media Mail won’t change, and will remain at prices set during the price increase USPS imposed in August of 2021.

Parcel Select Ground

Parcel Select Ground is getting much more affordable across the board. This is by far the biggest price change we’ve seen to a single USPS service in years. In January, Parcel Select Ground will become the most competitive it has ever been. Now, shippers will be able to enjoy price decreases of up to 56% off based on the 2021 USPS rates.

International USPS Services

First Class Package International

Depending on the country you’re shipping to, prices for First Class Package International will increase between 7 to 17%.

Priority Mail International

Every country is set to increase by 4% on average, except for Canada. Priority Mail International shipments going to Canada will conversely decrease by 2-18%.

Priority Mail Express International

Shipments to all countries will increase by 3-6%.

Hasn’t USPS Raised Prices Multiple Times Already?

This past year, USPS did in fact raise prices on multiple occasions. The first increase took effect in January, which is typically when all shipping carriers raise rates every year, for reasons such as making up for rising fuel costs, and combating inflation.

Next, USPS raised prices in August a second time, though a mid-year price increase for USPS is less typical. However, this price increase only applied to select services, such as First-Class Mail, Signature Confirmation Service, and Media Mail.

Lastly, USPS imposed a temporary holiday rate increase in October, which raised the price of all other shipping services, such as Priority Mail, First Class Package, and Priority Mail Express. In this article, we have compared the upcoming 2022 rate increase to prices that USPS set before this last price increases. We’ve chosen to do this because there will technically be a period of a couple of weeks when the holiday increase will go away before the 2022 rates kick in. During this time, USPS shippers will pay the 2021 rates set in August.

How to Offset Higher Shipping Costs

Rising shipping costs are an inevitability for all eCommerce businesses…and if you don’t know how to capture the right shipping discounts, your small business could suffer. That’s why it’s so important to choose the best shipping software that will save you the most amount of money on labels.

Like we mentioned in the beginning of this piece, when you use shipping software, you gain access to special discounts that USPS (and other carriers like UPS) reserve for huge commercial shippers. On top of giving yourself the ability to print postage from your own home, you also get to save the most money possible on labels, which adds up quickly if your business tends to ship out dozens—or hundreds—of packages per month. These savings maximize your margins and allows you to ultimately focus on doing what you do best: growing your business!