How long does mail take from Illinois to each state?
The map shades each state by the number of days USPS most often gives a First Class letter from Illinois, and the table under it gives the usual range for every state, so you can read off a trip like Illinois to Oregon at a glance.
| Trip | Usually | Most often | Within 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within Illinois | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 92 percent |
| Illinois to Alabama | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Alaska | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Arizona | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Arkansas | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 66 percent |
| Illinois to California | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Colorado | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 63 percent |
| Illinois to Connecticut | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 65 percent |
| Illinois to Delaware | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Washington, DC | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Florida | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 2 percent |
| Illinois to Georgia | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 59 percent |
| Illinois to Hawaii | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Idaho | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Indiana | 2 to 4 days | 2 days | 87 percent |
| Illinois to Iowa | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 70 percent |
| Illinois to Kansas | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 74 percent |
| Illinois to Kentucky | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Louisiana | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 3 percent |
| Illinois to Maine | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Maryland | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Massachusetts | 3 to 5 days | 3 days | 64 percent |
| Illinois to Michigan | 2 to 4 days | 3 days | 76 percent |
| Illinois to Minnesota | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 70 percent |
| Illinois to Mississippi | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Missouri | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 75 percent |
| Illinois to Montana | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Nebraska | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 65 percent |
| Illinois to Nevada | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to New Hampshire | 3 to 5 days | 3 days | 58 percent |
| Illinois to New Jersey | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to New Mexico | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 4 percent |
| Illinois to New York | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 68 percent |
| Illinois to North Carolina | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to North Dakota | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Ohio | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Oklahoma | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Oregon | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Pennsylvania | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Rhode Island | 3 to 5 days | 3 days | 64 percent |
| Illinois to South Carolina | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to South Dakota | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 53 percent |
| Illinois to Tennessee | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Texas | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 43 percent |
| Illinois to Utah | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Vermont | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Washington | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Illinois to West Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 69 percent |
| Illinois to Wisconsin | 2 to 4 days | 2 days | 86 percent |
| Illinois to Wyoming | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 24 percent |
How long does a letter take within Illinois?
USPS's directory gives 2 days to 57 percent of the letters that start and end in Illinois, 3 days to 34 percent and 4 days to 8 percent. About 14 percent of the people in Illinois live in ZIP codes whose letters get a day more than the rest of their 3 digit ZIP area, which is the 2025 rule for post offices more than 50 miles' drive from the plant that sorts their mail. If you mail from one of those towns, expect the slower end of each range on this page.
Which states get mail from Illinois fastest?
USPS most often gives 3 days or fewer to letters from Illinois bound for 33 other states, led by Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri. To Indiana, 87 percent of letters have a standard of 3 days or less.
Which states take the longest from Illinois?
USPS gives 5 days to most letters from Illinois going to 3 states, which are Oregon, Hawaii and Alaska. A letter on one of these trips that goes out with Monday's pickup is due on Saturday, or a day later when a holiday falls in the week.
How much of the country is within 3 days of Illinois?
If you sent one letter from Illinois to every person in the country, Illinois included, USPS would give 47 percent of them a standard of 3 days or less. That ranks Illinois 2nd of the 50 states and DC, and the state in the middle of that list is at 22 percent.
How do I find the exact days for one letter?
Each range on this page covers many ZIP codes, and one letter has a single number. For example, USPS gives a letter from ZIP 60629 in Illinois to ZIP 97229 in Oregon 4 days. Our delivery time tool shows that number for any two ZIP codes and counts it out on the calendar, skipping Sundays and holidays.
How were these days worked out?
The days come from USPS's own service standard directory for First Class Mail, effective October 1, 2026, which we download from USPS's Service Standards Files API. It gives the days from every 3 digit ZIP area to every other, plus the 5 digit ZIP codes whose letters get a different number. For Illinois we took each of its 1,389 populated ZIP codes as a starting point and each 3 digit ZIP area of the destination state as an end point, and weighted every pair by the people who live at both ends, using the Census Bureau's 2023 population counts. "Usually" is the range that covers the middle 8 of every 10 letters, and "most often" is the single most common number.
A service standard is USPS's target for a stamped letter mailed before the day's last pickup, and First Class Mail has no delivery guarantee. Sundays and the 11 federal holidays USPS observes don't count as delivery days.
Sources
- USPS, Service Standards Files API, "3D Base Service Standard Directory" and "Supplemental Service Standard Directory FCM", effective October 1, 2026, downloaded October 21, 2026: developers.usps.com
- Code of Federal Regulations, 39 CFR 121.1, First Class Mail service standards: ecfr.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5 year estimates, table B01003, population by ZIP Code Tabulation Area: data.census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to county relationship file: census.gov
- USPS Service Standards API, spot checks on October 21, 2026 that matched the directory: ZIP 77494 to 34787, 3 days; ZIP 92336 to 11368, 5 days; ZIP 11368 to 92336, 5 days; ZIP 60629 to 60629, 2 days; ZIP 59001 to 59901, 4 days; ZIP 590 to 59901, 3 days