How long does mail take from Massachusetts to each state?
The map shades each state by the number of days USPS most often gives a First Class letter from Massachusetts, and the table under it gives the usual range for every state, so you can read off a trip like Massachusetts to California at a glance.
| Trip | Usually | Most often | Within 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within Massachusetts | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to Alabama | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 4 percent |
| Massachusetts to Alaska | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Arizona | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Arkansas | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to California | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Colorado | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Connecticut | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to Delaware | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 81 percent |
| Massachusetts to Washington, DC | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Florida | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 1 percent |
| Massachusetts to Georgia | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 7 percent |
| Massachusetts to Hawaii | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Idaho | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Illinois | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 68 percent |
| Massachusetts to Indiana | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Iowa | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Kansas | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Kentucky | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 72 percent |
| Massachusetts to Louisiana | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Maine | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to Maryland | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Michigan | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 78 percent |
| Massachusetts to Minnesota | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Mississippi | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Missouri | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 4 percent |
| Massachusetts to Montana | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Nebraska | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Nevada | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to New Hampshire | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to New Jersey | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to New Mexico | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to New York | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 95 percent |
| Massachusetts to North Carolina | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to North Dakota | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Ohio | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Oklahoma | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Oregon | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Pennsylvania | 2 to 4 days | 3 days | 85 percent |
| Massachusetts to Rhode Island | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to South Carolina | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 76 percent |
| Massachusetts to South Dakota | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Tennessee | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 37 percent |
| Massachusetts to Texas | 4 to 5 days | 4 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Utah | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to Vermont | 2 to 3 days | 2 days | 100 percent |
| Massachusetts to Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Washington | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| Massachusetts to West Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| Massachusetts to Wisconsin | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 41 percent |
| Massachusetts to Wyoming | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
How long does a letter take within Massachusetts?
USPS's directory gives 2 days to 80 percent of the letters that start and end in Massachusetts and 3 days to 20 percent. About 13 percent of the people in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts fastest?
USPS most often gives 3 days or fewer to letters from Massachusetts bound for 20 other states, led by New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. To New Jersey, 100 percent of letters have a standard of 3 days or less.
Which states take the longest from Massachusetts?
USPS gives 5 days to most letters from Massachusetts going to 12 states, including California and Washington. 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 Massachusetts?
If you sent one letter from Massachusetts to every person in the country, Massachusetts included, USPS would give 37 percent of them a standard of 3 days or less. That ranks Massachusetts 9th 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 02301 in Massachusetts to ZIP 92336 in California 5 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 Massachusetts we took each of its 532 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