The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it will not be raising stamp prices in 2026, following cost increases in recent years.
In a press release issued on Sept. 24, the Postal Service confirmed that a recommendation by Postmaster General David Steiner not to raise prices in January 2026 for various products had been accepted by USPS governors.
“The price of a stamp to mail a 1-ounce single-piece first-class letter will not increase in early 2026,” the release reads. The price for a 1-ounce single-piece first-class letter is 78 cents.
“We continually strive to balance our pricing approach both to meet the revenue needs of the Postal Service and to deliver affordable offerings that reflect market conditions,” Steiner said. “We have therefore decided at this time to forgo a price change for First-Class Mail postage and other Market Dominant services until mid-year 2026.”
In January 2014, a first-class stamp cost 49 cents. As recently as 2006, it was 39 cents, half of the current price, which was raised to 78 cents from 73 cents earlier this year. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the postal service has raised the cost of postage stamps 20 times, compared with only 17 for the previous 100 years.
A Newsweek story said even though there is no price increase next January, there are likely to be more in the future. The USPS informed the Postal Regulatory Commission last year that it plans to raise prices again in January and July of both 2026 and 2027.
The postal service has been losing money for years because of competition from rivals such as FedEx and UPS and the cost of retirees’ benefits. In August, the Postal Service announced a net loss for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30 of $3.1 billion, compared with a loss of $2.5 billion for the same quarter last year.
The postal service said in a statement that results for the quarter were impacted by unfavorable non-cash workers’ compensation adjustments of $237 million, due to actuarial revaluation and discount rate change factors not controllable by the postal service, increased compensation and benefits expense of $360 million, and higher other operating expenses of $205 million.
