How long does mail take from North Dakota to each state?
The map shades each state by the number of days USPS most often gives a First Class letter from North Dakota, and the table under it gives the usual range for every state, so you can read off a trip like North Dakota to California at a glance.
| Trip | Usually | Most often | Within 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within North Dakota | 2 to 3 days | 3 days | 100 percent |
| North Dakota to Alabama | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Alaska | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Arizona | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Arkansas | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 3 percent |
| North Dakota to California | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Colorado | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Connecticut | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Delaware | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Washington, DC | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Florida | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Georgia | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Hawaii | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Idaho | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 5 percent |
| North Dakota to Illinois | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Indiana | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Iowa | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Kansas | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Kentucky | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 19 percent |
| North Dakota to Louisiana | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Maine | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Maryland | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Massachusetts | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Michigan | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Minnesota | 2 to 4 days | 3 days | 82 percent |
| North Dakota to Mississippi | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 6 percent |
| North Dakota to Missouri | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Montana | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 17 percent |
| North Dakota to Nebraska | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 23 percent |
| North Dakota to Nevada | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0.5 percent |
| North Dakota to New Hampshire | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to New Jersey | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to New Mexico | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to New York | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to North Carolina | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Ohio | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 24 percent |
| North Dakota to Oklahoma | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 25 percent |
| North Dakota to Oregon | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Pennsylvania | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Rhode Island | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to South Carolina | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to South Dakota | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 43 percent |
| North Dakota to Tennessee | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 6 percent |
| North Dakota to Texas | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 5 percent |
| North Dakota to Utah | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 20 percent |
| North Dakota to Vermont | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Virginia | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Washington | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 4 percent |
| North Dakota to West Virginia | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| North Dakota to Wisconsin | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 30 percent |
| North Dakota to Wyoming | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 12 percent |
How long does a letter take within North Dakota?
USPS's directory gives 2 days to 33 percent of the letters that start and end in North Dakota and 3 days to 67 percent. About 7 percent of the people in North Dakota 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 North Dakota fastest?
USPS most often gives 3 days or fewer to letters from North Dakota bound for 1 other state, which are Minnesota. To Minnesota, 82 percent of letters have a standard of 3 days or less.
Which states take the longest from North Dakota?
USPS gives 5 days to most letters from North Dakota going to 33 states, including California and Texas. 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 North Dakota?
If you sent one letter from North Dakota to every person in the country, North Dakota included, USPS would give 8 percent of them a standard of 3 days or less. That ranks North Dakota 43rd 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 58103 in North Dakota to ZIP 92336 in California 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 North Dakota we took each of its 387 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