In the UK it costs as much to to post a letter to your next door neighbour as it does to post a letter from the north of Scotland to the south of London. Considering that Texas alone is two and a half times bigger than the UK, is it a flat rate or is it a variable rate depending on how far?

23 comments

1. Same. Mail sent by the U.S. Postal Service is a flat rate regardless of distance.

   A standard piece of first-class mail (normal size envelope, up to 13 ounces) currently costs $.58 to send anywhere within the United States.

2. I haven’t sent a letter since the first Obama administration.

3. Same here in the US, for letters. A stamp for a standard letter is $.58.

4. A letter costs 58 cents, whether going down the street or to Alaska or Hawaii. I am assuming Puerto Rico, Guam and other territories are included in that, but don’t actually know.

5. USPS priority mail is a flat rate. Pony express is extra

6. “First class” Letters (normal mail, not packages) and postcards are the same rate to anywhere in the U.S. — including Hawaii (out in the middle of the Pacific ocean) and Alaska (Arctic Circle).

   Things considered packages do have different rates depending on distance.

7. Same cost, in fact, you could mail a letter to aircraft carriers for the same amount as any other address in the US.

8. Same. Domestic prices are based on weight instead of distance.

9. Standard mail is flat rate and there are a couple sizes of flat rate boxes/envelopes available. (maximum sized box is not that big – 2ft x 1ft x 3in is one of the “large” box options)

   Mail that is supposed to get there by a certain deadline (overnight, 2-day, etc), with other specialty services/handling, or other types of packages are not flat rate.

   A basic stamp to mail a letter anywhere is $0.58.

10. Business mailing, the junk mail everyone complains about, is basically subsidizing the personal letter.

    Packages do get charged due to distance, weight, insurance, etc…

11. First class letters 1-3 ounces are a flat rate per ounce increment anywhere in the country. This includes Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and all the various Pacific territories.

    Anything 4-16 ounces is variable rate depending on distance to postal zone. Price tiers are in 4 ounce increments.

    1lb or heavier is by weight per pounds and distance to the zone.

    USPS also has flat rate boxes. Anything that fits in the box up to 70lbs ships anywhere in the country for a flat rate.

    Many options.

12. It’s a flat rate within the US (58 cents for letters and 40 cents for postcards).

    The neat thing is that international mail also has a flat rate. It’s $1.30 no matter whether the letter is going to neighboring Canada or halfway around the globe.

13. If just a letter its .58 cents anywhere in the continuous 48 states. Next door or NY to California.

14. Postage for packages can vary depending on weight, the dimensions of the shipping box, and the distance between sender and recipient.

    For letters, a stamp has a flat price, though delivery times may vary a little depending on distance.

15. Letters have a flat rate, packages don’t.

    Edit: there is a class of flat rate for packages too, but in general packages have a variable rate.

16. Stamps for letters (and postcards) are a set rate and apply to all distances – next door or Hawaii to Maine.

17. Yes, the movement for “uniform penny post” in the UK in the mid 1800s influenced the United States to copy such reforms.

18. We also have a flat rate. You can post a letter from Miami, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska for around 50 cents and it will be there in a few days.

19. A letter from Maine to Hawaii costs the same as one going across the street.

20. Flat rate.

    PS: One thing that younger people might not know is that stamps used to expire. Now, all US postage are what’s called “Forever stamps”, but it used to be necessary to throw out stamps that weren’t any good any more because their date had passed.

21. I can send a letter to the tippy point of Alaska for the same price as my neighbor. $0.58. It’s even more drastic than in the UK because of all the undeveloped vastness in the US.

22. Costs the same amount to mail something next door as it does to mail a letter to an aircraft carrier halfway across the globe.

23. Flat rate. You can send a letter from Honolulu to Boston, Anchorage to Miami, or two houses down the road, for the same cost.