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01/21/2026
Postal Regulator Limits USPS to Once-a-Year Price Hikes for Mail through 2030
Source: Federal New Network, January 15, 2026
The Postal Service’s regulator is setting limits on how often the agency can set higher prices for its monopoly mail products.
The Postal Regulatory Commission ruled on Tuesday that the USPS, starting in March, can only raise mail prices once a year. This limit will remain in place through Sept. 30, 2030.
The commission eased restrictions on USPS mail prices in December 2020, when the agency was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, and was months away from running out of cash.
Since then, USPS has generally raised mail prices every January and July. Despite setting higher prices, the mail agency is seeing deeper net losses each year, and is far from achieving the “break-even” goal of its 10-year reform plan. In July 2025, USPS raised the price of a first-class stamp to 78 cents.
Members of the commission wrote in their order that the Postal Service’s long-term financial problems “cannot be resolved by using pricing authority alone.”
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