How long does mail take from South Carolina to each state?
The map shades each state by the number of days USPS most often gives a First Class letter from South Carolina, and the table under it gives the usual range for every state, so you can read off a trip like South Carolina to California at a glance.
| Trip | Usually | Most often | Within 3 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within South Carolina | 2 to 3 days | 3 days | 95 percent |
| South Carolina to Alabama | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 31 percent |
| South Carolina to Alaska | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Arizona | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Arkansas | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 18 percent |
| South Carolina to California | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Colorado | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Connecticut | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Delaware | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Washington, DC | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Florida | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 32 percent |
| South Carolina to Georgia | 2 to 4 days | 3 days | 80 percent |
| South Carolina to Hawaii | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Idaho | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Illinois | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Indiana | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Iowa | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 12 percent |
| South Carolina to Kansas | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 18 percent |
| South Carolina to Kentucky | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Louisiana | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Maine | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 20 percent |
| South Carolina to Maryland | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Massachusetts | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Michigan | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Minnesota | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 3 percent |
| South Carolina to Mississippi | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Missouri | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 23 percent |
| South Carolina to Montana | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Nebraska | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 4 percent |
| South Carolina to Nevada | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to New Hampshire | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to New Jersey | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to New Mexico | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to New York | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to North Carolina | 2 to 3 days | 3 days | 94 percent |
| South Carolina to North Dakota | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Ohio | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Oklahoma | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 15 percent |
| South Carolina to Oregon | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Pennsylvania | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Rhode Island | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to South Dakota | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Tennessee | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 33 percent |
| South Carolina to Texas | 3 to 5 days | 4 days | 16 percent |
| South Carolina to Utah | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to Vermont | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 46 percent |
| South Carolina to Washington | 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
| South Carolina to West Virginia | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 27 percent |
| South Carolina to Wisconsin | 3 to 4 days | 4 days | 23 percent |
| South Carolina to Wyoming | 4 to 5 days | 5 days | 0 percent |
How long does a letter take within South Carolina?
USPS's directory gives 2 days to 33 percent of the letters that start and end in South Carolina, 3 days to 62 percent and 4 days to 5 percent. About 18 percent of the people in South Carolina 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 South Carolina fastest?
USPS most often gives 3 days or fewer to letters from South Carolina bound for 2 other states, which are North Carolina and Georgia. To North Carolina, 94 percent of letters have a standard of 3 days or less.
Which states take the longest from South Carolina?
USPS gives 5 days to most letters from South Carolina going to 18 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 South Carolina?
If you sent one letter from South Carolina to every person in the country, South Carolina included, USPS would give 24 percent of them a standard of 3 days or less. That ranks South Carolina 20th 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 29072 in South Carolina 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 South Carolina we took each of its 422 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