Expanding Access to Government Services Through the Postal Network

— Research and Insights Solution Center —
United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General

For 250 years, the U.S. Postal Service has served as a trusted civic institution with the nation’s most extensive public service infrastructure, connecting communities across rural and urban America through a vast network of facilities, logistics assets, and a nationwide workforce.

Leveraging this expansive network, USPS provides critical government services on behalf of other agencies helping them expand access, reduce costs, and improve service delivery nationwide.

A traditional U.S. mailbox with red flag against a lush green blurred background., image

Government services generated

$387 million
in Fiscal Year 2025

Although a small percentage of USPS’s $80.5 billion in total revenue, they still contribute to the bottom line while reinforcing the organization’s public service role.

A classic brick U.S. Post Office in Boston with mailboxes and an American flag., image

In partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the Postal Service manages the intake of new passport applications.

Revenue from passport services is driven by the volume of applications and has historically demonstrated overall growth, a trend briefly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These Services help federal agencies expand access and reduce the cost of public services, while providing USPS with a steady, though limited, revenue stream.

low-angle photo of U.S. flag placed on gray pole

Opportunities

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 expanded USPS’s authority to partner with state, local, and tribal governments, but USPS has not yet pursued such partnerships. OIG interviews with selected federal and state officials revealed strong interest in using the Postal Service’s extensive network to improve access to government services, especially in rural and underserved communities.

Identity Services
and Self-Service Kiosks

In remote geographic corridors, everyday citizens face accessibility challenges, sometimes forcing them to travel over 100 miles just to reach the closest government agency office.

Local post offices could operate as multi-agency hubs offering options to state governments to help bridge these remote service gaps.

State officials in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico noted that offering identity services and self-service kiosks could help bridge these challenges, capitalizing on the importance the post office already has for rural residents.

"It's just the nature of small-town life that the post office becomes the hub of activity. That's where you go in and you go to get your mail ...it's where you come in to do your business."

—State Government Official

Rooftop Leasing and Broadband Expansion

In underserved rural counties, everyday residents face digital isolation, leaving over 20 million people cut off from reliable high-speed internet.

Local post offices could operate as critical connectivity hubs offering state governments and telecom partners a platform to host wireless infrastructure to help bridge these remote service gaps.

State broadband officials in Texas and Colorado, alongside the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), noted that offering rooftop leasing for 5G and fixed wireless equipment could help bridge these challenges, capitalizing on the thousands of postal facilities positioned directly inside connectivity deserts.

The potential for rooftop leasing
is higher in states with vast rural expanses.

Nationally, there are approximately 1,000 underserved counties containing 9,000 postal offices. In Texas, one third of the state's 1,679 (owned and leased) post offices are in underserved or unserved counties. By hosting fixed wireless equipment, these facilities could serve as connectivity hubs for rural residents.

Vehicle-Based Data Collection

State and local environmental and transportation agencies face immense resource challenges monitoring localized air quality, tracking real-time road conditions, or mapping accurate wireless signal coverage gaps.

The USPS delivery fleet could operate as mobile sensor platforms, allowing federal, state, and local entities to gather localized, cost-effective infrastructure data without disrupting core delivery operations.

State environmental and transit officials in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico noted that integrating air quality and road monitoring sensors onto the postal fleet could help bridge these data gaps, efficiently capitalizing on the constant, daily street-level presence of over 258,000 vehicles.

Reaching nearly every address daily,
mail carriers may also be uniquely positioned to deliver localized, in-person government tasks.

Building on legacy civic initiatives like the 1982 Carrier Alert wellness checks, state officials would like to leverage this daily footprint for localized property checks and wellness programs.

The Department of Commerce is also executing 2026 pilot tests in Alabama and South Carolina to evaluate carriers for address verification and community outreach to support the upcoming census.

Emergency Management and Public Health Response

During the critical initial hours of a natural disaster or public health crisis, local and state emergency management agencies face severe challenges gathering immediate situational awareness and securing stable distribution networks in high-risk rural corridors.

Local post offices and carrier routes could operate as a synchronized emergency support framework, providing states with a direct line to deploy localized resources and real-time damage updates.

Emergency and health officials in Colorado and Texas noted that utilizing the postal network could help bridge response challenges, capitalizing on carriers who can report infrastructure failures directly into state crisis portals or activating rural lobbies to rapidly distribute emergency medical supplies and identity replacements.

USPS is already an integral part of the federal emergency response.

The Postal Service has supported the American people during times of crisis for over 200 years. It is an integral part of the federal emergency response structure and is designated as a support agency within the National Response Framework.

Key Success Factors

To better understand how USPS could advance this opportunity, the OIG reviewed approaches used by a sample of international postal operators with more developed government service portfolios – Australia Poste, La Poste France, and Poste Italiane — identifying several recurring success factors.

1. Creating Awareness Through Proactive Engagement

Maintain regular engagement with designated points of contact at various levels of government and rely on dedicated sales or account management teams.

Australia Post and Poste Italiane maintain comprehensive website sections mapping out government solutions, while senior leadership at France's Groupe La Poste regularly presents operational capabilities directly to local government associations.

2. Centralized Governance

Establishing a single, internal "Enterprise & Government" unit to manage the full lifecycle of a partnership, ensuring nationwide service consistency.

Australia Post operates a dedicated unit that manages the entire partnership lifecycle, overseeing everything from initial contract negotiations to final service delivery to guarantee nationwide consistency.

3. External Funding

Securing specialized public grants to bypass strict institutional budget constraints.

Poste Italiane secured $1.1 billion to transform 7,000 rural post offices into digital one-stop shops for essential public services like passports and social security documents in areas where private options are absent.

4. Market Intelligence

Using data segmentation to target geographic "service deserts" where private sector options are completely absent.

Italy’s Poste Italiane utilizes data analysis and market segmentation to map out distinct geographic gaps where alternative private or public options are missing to avoid direct competition with existing service options.

5. Standardized Processes

Building a uniform, standardized catalog of services and data-sharing interfaces to dramatically lower onboarding and IT customization costs.

Australia Post maintains a standardized catalog of services, while Poste Italiane utilizes a uniform, plug-and-play digital interface across its online and kiosk channels, providing a familiar citizen user experience across all levels of service.

6. Comprehensive Roadmaps

Formalizing business development activities into strict strategic plans with clear objectives, governance models, and funding requirements

Leading international postal operators structure their expansion efforts into formal strategic plans that explicitly define objectives, governance, operating models, and funding strategies.

a red australia post sign on top of a tall building

Bright yellow French post box against wooden backdrop in Les Arcs, France.

Back view of a Poste Italiane scooter parked on a street in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy.

Photo by Efrem Efre on Pexels

Next Steps

OIG Recommendation:

To transform the postal network into an active government storefront, the OIG recommends implementing a formal strategic roadmap.

The Postal Service agreed with this recommendation, and it intends to formalize and refine previous evaluation efforts into a roadmap featuring a structured, phased approach to assessing partnership opportunities. The target implementation date is May 31, 2027.

This structured blueprint will establish clear steps to identify and evaluate local coordination opportunities across every tier of government.

The Postal Service should Explore Partnerships with State, Local or Tribal Governments

The Postal Service has the reach, public trust, and physical infrastructure to play a broader role in delivering government services, strengthening its social value, particularly for rural and underserved communities, while generating new revenue.

Although profitable, its current portfolio of nonpostal government services remains limited to federal agencies, relies heavily on passport demand, and contributes to a small share of total revenue.