You usually have to pay for a PO Box, but not always. USPS charges a rental fee for most Post Office boxes, with prices that vary by box size, location, and rental term. The one common exception: if USPS doesn’t deliver mail to your physical address, you may qualify for a free PO Box under what’s called Group E service.1United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 508 Recipient Services
When You Can Get a PO Box for Free
Group E is the USPS program that provides no-fee PO Boxes to people whose homes don’t get carrier delivery. To qualify, three things have to be true at once. Your address has to sit inside the delivery ZIP Code boundaries of a Post Office. Carrier delivery has to be theoretically possible at that location. And USPS has to not currently deliver there.1United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 508 Recipient Services
Several situations don’t qualify, even when it feels like they should. If your building uses centralized delivery through cluster boxes or an apartment mailroom, you’re not eligible. If the reason mail doesn’t reach you is something outside postal control, like a private road, a gated community, or a local ordinance, that doesn’t qualify either. College dorms, hotels, military installations, and campgrounds are excluded outright.1United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 508 Recipient Services
A few other limits are worth knowing before you plan around a free box. USPS gives one free box per delivery point, not one per person. The Post Office assigns you the smallest box that fits your typical daily mail volume, so you don’t get to pick the size. If you want a second box on top of the free one, you pay the regular fee for it.1United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 508 Recipient Services
How to Apply for a Free Box
Group E service isn’t available through the USPS website. You have to apply in person at the Post Office that serves your address, and staff there will confirm whether your location meets the eligibility rules.2United States Postal Service. DMM Revision – Group E Post Office Box Service
What a Paid PO Box Costs
If you don’t qualify for a free box, expect to pay somewhere between a few dollars and more than $40 per month. USPS doesn’t publish a single national price list because rates depend on the Post Office. A small box in a rural town can cost a fraction of the same size at a busy downtown location.3United States Postal Service. PO Boxes To get the actual price for a location you’re considering, search by ZIP Code on the USPS website.
Boxes come in five sizes:
- Extra-small (3″ × 5.5″) for letters and small documents
- Small (5″ × 5.5″) for magazines and large envelopes
- Medium (5.5″ × 11″) for most small packages
- Large (11″ × 11″) for shoeboxes and larger parcels
- Extra-large (12″ × 22.5″) for oversized packages
USPS doesn’t offer month-to-month rentals. You pick a 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month term. The 3-month option locks you into automatic renewal with no way to opt out; the 6- and 12-month terms let you choose. Longer terms generally have a lower effective monthly rate, so a 12-month rental is the cheapest per month if you’ll use the box all year.3United States Postal Service. PO Boxes
What You Need to Open a Box
Whether the box is free or paid, USPS requires two forms of identification to open one: one photo ID and one non-photo ID, both current and traceable to you. Accepted photo IDs include a driver’s license, state ID, passport, military or government ID, and university or corporate ID cards. For the second form, USPS accepts a voter registration card, vehicle registration, current lease or mortgage document, or a home or vehicle insurance policy.4United States Postal Service. PO Box Help
Social Security cards, credit cards, and birth certificates are not accepted.4United States Postal Service. PO Box Help When your box is set up, you get two keys and pay a refundable key deposit. Return the keys when you close the box and you get the deposit back.
What Happens If You Stop Paying
On a paid box, USPS does not give you much time to catch up on a missed renewal. Postal staff block access to your box on the first of the month after a payment is missed. You then have a 10-day grace period. If you don’t pay within those 10 days, USPS closes the box automatically and returns all mail to senders marked undeliverable.5United States Postal Service. Policies, Procedures, and Forms Updates That’s a real headache if the box handles business correspondence or billing, so setting up automatic renewal is the simplest safeguard. You can enroll in autopay when you pay online with a credit or debit card through the USPS website.6United States Postal Service. PS Form 1093 – Application for Post Office Box Service