Can You Get a PO Box in a Different Town or City?

Yes, you can rent a PO Box in a different town, a different county, or a different state. USPS has no residency requirement for PO Box service, so you’re free to choose any Post Office in the country regardless of where you live.¹ The one catch worth planning around: you have to show up in person at that Post Office at least once to verify your identity and collect your keys.

Why Location Doesn’t Matter to USPS

PO Box rental works like any other service the Post Office sells. You pick a location, pay the fee, and get a box. Nothing on the application asks you to live nearby, work in the area, or explain why you want a box in that particular zip code. People rent out-of-town boxes for plenty of ordinary reasons. A small business owner might want a mailing address in the city where most clients are. Someone who splits time between two homes might want mail collected in both. Others simply prefer an address that doesn’t reveal where they live.

USPS does still need to know your real home address, though. The application asks for your current residential address, and one of the two IDs you submit must prove that address is genuine.² That isn’t a restriction on where you can rent. It’s identity verification, so USPS knows who is behind every box number.

What You Need to Apply

Have these ready before you start:

Your full legal name, current home address, phone number, and email.
One photo ID. A valid driver’s license or state ID, U.S. passport or passport card, military or government employee ID, or a NEXUS or Matricula Consular card all qualify.³
One non-photo ID that proves your home address. A current lease, mortgage document, or deed of trust; a voter or vehicle registration card; or a home or vehicle insurance policy.³

Both IDs have to be current. Social Security cards, credit cards, and birth certificates are not accepted.² One detail that catches people out: utility bills are not on the approved list. If you don’t have a lease or a registration card handy, a home insurance policy is usually the easiest fallback.

How to Apply for a Box in Another Town

You have two paths, but both end at the same place: the counter of the Post Office where the box lives.

Online

Go to the USPS PO Boxes page, search for the Post Office where you want your box, pick an available size, and complete the application. You’ll pay the first rental period by credit or debit card during checkout.² Print your completed Form 1093 and bring it, along with your two IDs, to that Post Office. A clerk verifies your identity and hands over the keys or lock combination.

In Person

Pick up PS Form 1093 at the Post Office or print it from usps.com beforehand. Fill out pages 3 and 4, bring your two IDs, and take everything to the location where you want the box. Once the clerk processes your payment, you get the box number and keys on the spot.² In-person applicants can pay by cash, check, credit card, or debit card.

The in-person identity check at that specific Post Office is non-negotiable either way. If your box is in a town you rarely visit, build one trip into your plan.

What It Costs

PO Box pricing depends on three things: the size of the box, the term you choose, and the Post Office location. USPS assigns each location to a fee group based on local market conditions, so the same size box costs more in a busy city than in a rural town.

The smallest box (3 inches by 5.5 inches) runs from $30 to $79 for six months at market-dominant locations. The largest option (12 inches by 22.5 inches) runs from $148 to $553 for six months at those same locations.⁴ Competitive locations, which tend to be higher-traffic Post Offices in urban areas, charge more. A small box at a competitive location can run $78 to $165 for six months.

You can pay quarterly instead of every six months, but the monthly cost works out higher. USPS also charges a $1 refundable deposit per key. To see exact pricing for a specific Post Office, search that location on the USPS PO Boxes page; fees appear during the reservation process.¹

Packages From UPS, FedEx, and Amazon

A standard PO Box only accepts mail delivered by USPS. UPS, FedEx, DHL, and Amazon deliveries require a street address, so they can’t drop packages in a traditional PO Box. That’s one of the bigger practical drawbacks of using a PO Box as your main mailing address.

USPS partially solves this through its Street Addressing program, available at participating “Premium PO Box Service” locations. When enrolled, you can use the Post Office’s street address followed by a “#” and your box number instead of the standard “PO Box” format. Private carriers recognize this as a street address and deliver to the Post Office, where staff places the package in your box or a parcel locker.⁵

Not every Post Office participates, and you need to sign a customer agreement to activate the format. If receiving packages from multiple carriers is a big part of why you want an out-of-town box, confirm the location offers Street Addressing before you commit. One warning worth flagging: don’t file a change-of-address form from your PO Box number to the street-style version, since both formats already deliver to the same box.

Where a PO Box Won’t Work as Your Address

An out-of-town PO Box gives you a convenient mailing address, but several situations require a physical residential address and will not accept a PO Box:

Driver’s license and Real ID. States require proof of a physical home address when issuing a Real ID-compliant license or state ID. A PO Box doesn’t qualify as proof of residency here.
Voter registration. Election officials need your home address to assign you to the correct precinct. PO Box addresses aren’t accepted on voter registration forms.
Business registration. If you’re forming an LLC or corporation, most states require a registered agent with a physical street address. A PO Box won’t satisfy that.
Banking. Federal anti-money-laundering rules generally require banks to collect a physical address when opening accounts. You can often list a PO Box for correspondence, but the bank still needs your residential address on file.

A PO Box handles everyday correspondence, subscriptions, and many online purchases well, but it can’t fully replace a physical address for legal and government purposes. If you’re renting one in another town specifically to keep your home address off paperwork, those limits are worth knowing up front.

Managing a Box You Can’t Easily Visit

Renting far from home changes a few practical details.

Access hours matter. Many Post Offices have after-hours lobbies that let you check your box outside normal business hours, but not all locations offer this and lobby hours vary.⁶ Confirm the lobby schedule at the specific Post Office before you rent, especially if you’ll be arriving on evenings or weekends. When a package is too large for the box, the clerk leaves a notification slip directing you to the counter or a parcel locker.

Keep your information current. USPS requires the information on your Form 1093 stay up to date, and you’re responsible for updating it at the Post Office where your box is located.² This is easy to overlook when the box is far from home, since a change to your residential address doesn’t happen at the box location.

Renewal is the easy part. PO Box rentals run in 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month terms.¹ You can renew online, at a self-service kiosk, by mail, or in person. Setting up an online account with a card on file lets you turn on automatic renewal, so the fee charges each cycle without another trip. Renewal opens 30 days before the current term expires.⁷

Closing the box requires one more visit. You return all keys to the Post Office where the box is located, and the $1-per-key deposit comes back to you. Customers aren’t allowed to duplicate PO Box keys on their own.

1
United States Postal Service. PO Boxes
2
United States Postal Service. PS Form 1093 – Application for Post Office Box Service
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United States Postal Service. PO Box Help
4
United States Postal Service. USPS Notice 123 – January 2026 Price Change
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PostalPro. Premium PO Box Service Street Addressing
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United States Postal Service. Find USPS Post Offices and Locations Near Me
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U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Management of Post Office Box Service