California·Management Occupations·SOC 11-9131

Best Postmaster programs in California, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate operational, administrative, management, and support services of a U.S.

39 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,321 people a year. The job pays a median of $101,150 in California across about 800 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPostmasterRemote Encoding Center ManagerDistribution Operations ManagerDistribution Operation Supervisor (SDO)Postal SupervisorDelivery SupervisorMail SuperintendentPostal Superintendent
Graduates / yr
1,321
in California
Median pay · California
$101,150
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
800
people employed
Schools
39
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,873
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in California that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in California that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
11,321
100.0%
39$45,374$26,000

Top 25 schools in California

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 39 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1California State University - Northridge
Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
181Public Administration$76,04957%93%
2California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
114Public Administration$45,47143%93%
3National University
San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
111Public Administration$77,07743%$31,817
4University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
110Public Administration92%$26,87310%
5California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
100Public Administration69%46%
6California State University - San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
88Public Administration$36,96955%94%
7San Diego State University
San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
64Public Administration$41,02076%36%
8California State University - East Bay
Hayward, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
53Public Administration48%97%
9Claremont Lincoln University
Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
53Public Administration
10California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
47Public Administration$36,62670%91%
11California Baptist University
Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
41Public Administration$68,68262%$26,94085%
12University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
38Public Administration70%$37,12162%
13University of La Verne
La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
30Public Administration63%$45,46171%
14California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
28Public Administration50%94%
15California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
23Public Administration53%91%
16California State University - Sacramento
Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
22Public Administration56%94%
17Golden Gate University
San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Public Administration
18Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Monterey, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
20Public Administration
19San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
17Public Administration50%96%
20California State University - Chico
Chico, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
15Public Administration63%93%
21California State Polytechnic University - Pomona
Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
14Public Administration68%75%
22California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Public Administration70%$23,12976%
23Touro University Worldwide
Los Alamitos, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Public Administration29%$17,026
24University of California - Riverside
Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs
12Public Administration76%76%
25University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Public Administration69%$23,96471%

All 39 schools in California

Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in California that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
California State University - NorthridgeNorthridgePublic1811
California State University - Dominguez HillsCarsonPublic1141
National UniversitySan DiegoPrivate not-for-profit1111
University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesPrivate not-for-profit1101
California State University - Long BeachLong BeachPublic1001
California State University - San BernardinoSan BernardinoPublic881
San Diego State UniversitySan DiegoPublic641
California State University - East BayHaywardPublic531
Claremont Lincoln UniversityClaremontPrivate not-for-profit531
California State University - FullertonFullertonPublic471
California Baptist UniversityRiversidePrivate not-for-profit411
University of San FranciscoSan FranciscoPrivate not-for-profit381
University of La VerneLa VernePrivate not-for-profit301
California State University - BakersfieldBakersfieldPublic281
California State University - Los AngelesLos AngelesPublic231

What postmasters and mail superintendents earn in California

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in California
$101,150
Mean annual
$103,040
Jobs in state
800
What the range looks like
10th pct$85,570Median$101,15090th pct$122,930
Versus the national median
+4.6%

U.S. median $96,660. California pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.49×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in California

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
$113,430median
120 jobs
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
$106,320median
40 jobs
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$102,920median
80 jobs
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
$101,760median
80 jobs
Fresno, CA
$100,450median
30 jobs
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
$99,050median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-3.5%
Decline
Openings per year
900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-500
13,100 → 12,700
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Postmasters and Mail Superintendents page.

How to become a Postmaster

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingMonitoringLearning Strategies

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in California

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Postmasters and Mail Superintendents1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 44.0401Public Administration

Common questions

Answers for people weighing postmasters and mail superintendents programs in California.

What degree do you need to become a Postmaster?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Public Administration, which awarded 1,321 degrees in California in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Postmaster?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Public Administration. Together they graduate about 1,321 people a year in California.

How much do postmasters and mail superintendents earn in California?+

The median is $101,150 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.6% above the U.S. median of $96,660. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for postmasters and mail superintendents growing?+

BLS projects a -3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+

39 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do postmasters and mail superintendents work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Postmaster, Remote Encoding Center Manager, Distribution Operations Manager, Distribution Operation Supervisor (SDO) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9131.

Postmasters and Mail Superintendents in other statesNew YorkTexasIndianaFloridaVirginiaArizonaMassachusettsNorth Carolina
Programs in CaliforniaPublic Administration

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card