WASHINGTON – New polling shows that postal customers strongly believe that proposals to privatize the United States Postal Service should be marked “Return to Sender.”  In a national survey of 1,402 registered voters, those surveyed oppose postal service privatization by an overwhelming 34 points.

According to a polling memo prepared by prominent opinion research firms Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research, when respondents were informed that the Trump administration wants to privatize postal services, “they oppose the idea by greater than two to one: just 26% favor privatization while 60% are opposed.” Privatized mail service means that mail delivery would be provided by private companies rather than a public postal service.

Opposition to privatization is both wide and deep across the country, crossing both partisan and demographic lines, especially in rural communities, the poll showed. “Rural voters mirror the country overall, in that they oppose privatization by 34 points (58% to 24%), which is surprising given their Republican partisan lean (Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by 23 points among these voters), and likely reflects the extent to which rural voters rely on USPS services.”

Every age cohort also expressed opposition to privatization, the poll showed, with younger voters (under 35) voicing the strongest opposition (65 percent opposed, 20 percent in favor).

Fully 56 percent of Americans surveyed believe that privatization would result in higher prices for mailing letters and packages, while just 17 percent say that prices would improve. By a margin of  44 percent to 17 percent, those surveyed also anticipate a negative impact on the cost of online shopping. 

“Postal customers should trust their gut when it comes to schemes to sell off or transfer the USPS,” said American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Mark Dimondstein. The APWU commissioned the poll.

“Plans to privatize the Post Office are about enriching Wall Street and not serving Main Street,” he said. “Evidence shows that selling off the USPS would lead to higher prices for postal services as well as higher prices for shipping packages at FedEx and UPS.” 

In March, the brokerage firm Wells Fargo Advisors told Wall Street investors that privatization of the postal service “would be positive for FedEx & UPS. In order to stand alone and earn a reasonable return we estimate USPS would need to raise price by 30-140 %.” 

The Wells Fargo guidance also predicted that privatization would lead to closing, or as they term it, “harvesting,” neighborhood post offices. In the poll conducted by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research, those surveyed did not favor the closing of local post offices. In fact, 72 percent  are opposed, according to the survey.

Speaking at a media and technology conference sponsored by J.P. Morgan earlier this spring, Trump advisor Elon Musk said that he was looking into selling off the USPS. The DOGE head went on to say that the USPS and Amtrak were his top targets for privatization.  But, in the Hart/North Star poll postal customers saw little need for selling off the postal service because they like the USPS and the services it offers. Fully 82 percent believe that USPS is doing an “excellent” (35 percent) or “good” (47 percent) job today. They also view postal workers favorably (81 percent favorable, 5 percent unfavorable.) Nearly all (96 percent) report that mail service is “important” for their family, including 68 percent who said “very important.” And while most have other ways to receive packages and email has replaced some letter mail, 92 percent use USPS to receive packages; 90 percent use USPS to send letters or postcards; and 86 percent report that they rely on the USPS to receive bills.

These high marks are similar to the Pew Research Center study from August 2024, which found that the USPS was second only to the National Park Service when it came to favorability scores tied to any service or agency associated with the federal government.

The USPS, which is funded primarily through the sale of stamps and services – not taxes, has other means of raising revenue that are not tied to raising prices, going private, or cutting services. Respondents to the Hart/North Star poll embraced a number of alternative, non-privatization policies that would strengthen USPS’s finances. As a means of boosting revenue, 77 percent favor making office supplies available for purchase in post offices (15 percent opposed). Other options: 72 percent favor making hunting and fishing licenses available for purchase in post offices (15 percent opposed) and 60 percent favor making magazines and newspapers available for purchase sale in post offices (25 percent opposed).

APWU President Dimondstein listed myriad more ways the USPS could increase revenue, such as being allowed to ship wine and beer. Also, the USPS could expand its financial services from just processing money orders to also handling check-cashing and wire transfers for customers. This measure would both raise revenues and help those without bank options, he said. Local post office parking lots could be used for public EV charging stations.  Broadband services could be made available in communities that lack it.

“There is so much more the USPS could do for our customers,” said Dimondstein. “This is the people’s postal service, emphasis on ‘service.’ It shouldn’t be sold off or diminished. The U.S. Mail is not for sale.” 

North Star Opinion Research is a Republican polling firm based in Arlington, VA. They specialize in polling for center-right political candidates at all levels, as well as corporations, associations, and non-profits.  In addition to helping to elect dozens of Republican candidates to the U.S. House and Senate since the firm's founding in 1991, they have conducted opinion research for clients as wide-ranging as the U.S Chamber of Commerce, America's Health Insurance Plans, and The Nature Conservancy. For more information, visit https://www.northstaropinion.com

Hart Research Associates was founded in 1971 and is one of the leading research firms in the United States. During that time, the firm has conducted well over 8,000 public opinion surveys including interviews among more than four million individuals, as well as undertaken more than 7,500 focus group sessions. Hart’s political division has been involved in hundreds of Democratic campaigns throughout all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The firm has represented more than 40 U.S. senators, dozens of U.S. representatives, and over 30 governors. For more information, visit https://hartresearch.com/

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) represents 200,000 employees of the United States Postal Service and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. For more information, visit www.apwu.org

Note on Survey Methodology: Interviews were conducted online from February 26 to March 2, 2025, among a sample of 1,402 registered voters matched to the voter file. This includes interviews with 645 voters in rural areas. The survey has a confidence interval of ±3.1 percentage points.

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