The U.S. Postal Service wants to increase the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents. The increase would be part of broader rate hikes the agency has filed with its federal regulator Thursday amid its worsening financial situation.
The USPS, which also announced Thursday it would cease pension contributions, filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission regarding mailing services price changes that would go into effect on July 12. The proposed increases, approved by Postal Service governors, would raise mailing services product prices by around 4.8 percent across the board.
“In the midst of the severe financial crisis facing the Postal Service and continued rising operational costs, the organization is using all available tools, including available regulatory pricing authority, to ensure that it can continue to fulfill its universal service obligation and serve the American public,” USPS said in its announcement.
USPS is working to improve its financial situation, alerting the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s human resources division, that it would pause its biweekly employer contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System.
If approved by the commission, the July price increase would impact a wide assortment of mailing products and services.
A standard one-ounce First-Class letter stamp would increase from 78 cents to 82 cents. Metered first-class letters of one ounce would be raised from 74 cents to 78 cents. Domestic postcards would climb from 61 cents to 65 cents. International postcards and one-ounce international letters would go up from $1.70 to $1.75. The additional-ounce price for single-piece letters would stay the same at 29 cents.
The Postal Service is also seeking price hikes for other First-Class Mail products, periodicals, USPS Marketing Mail, package services, and select special services.
Even with the price hikes, the agency noted its mailing prices are among the most affordable in the world. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and depends on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations. Postal officials warned Congress in March that the agency could run out of funds by October without structural changes.
In April 2025, USPS requested a raise in the price of first-class forever stamps from 73 cents to 78 cents, an approximately 7.4 percent increase across mailing services that went into effect in July 2025.
In July 2024, USPS increased mail prices by roughly 7.8 percent, the second stamp price hike that year, as the agency sought “financial stability.”
Forever stamp prices went up from 63 to 66 cents in July 2023, the second hike that year, in the wake of an earlier rise from 60 to 63 cents in January. The July 2023 increase represented the fifth stamp price hike since 2019. Despite the rate hikes, the U.S. Postal Service recorded a $6.5 billion net loss for the 2023 fiscal year.
