Missing Mail: Areas Of The U.S. With Most Missing, Lost and Potentially Stolen Mail

Key Findings

• Nationally, more than 542,000 pieces of mail were lost or went missing between 2022 and 2024.
• The District of Columbia has the highest rate of lost or missing mail per 100k residents.
• California had the highest total number of pieces of mail reported lost or missing.
• The city with the highest volume of lost or missing mail in the U.S is Los Angeles.
• Chicago recorded the most “lost after delivery” (proxy for stolen mail) reports in the U.S.
• In 2024, 177,748 pieces of mail were reported as lost or missing, representing a 12.8% decrease from the 2023 figure, but an increase of 10% compared to 2022.

States Where Your Mail Is Most Likely To Be Lost

Our analysis of USPIS and USPS data revealed that since 2022, 542,807 pieces of mail have been reported as lost or missing, at an average rate of 15,078 pieces per month. Specifically, 150,254 instances of lost or missing mail occurred after delivery, corresponding to approximately 4,174 cases per month.

Figures showed that California has the highest number of reported cases of lost or missing mail in the U.S., with over 121,000 pieces of mail reported missing or lost in California since 2022. 

California’s 121,473 reported cases of missing or lost mail are 47% higher than those of the state with the second-largest number of reports, Texas. Between 2022 and 2024, annual reports in Texas reported 49,162 instances of missing or lost mail.

New York was found to have the third-highest number of lost or missing mail pieces, with 41,859 reports between 2022 and 2024. Florida (36,741) and Illinois (21,509) round off the states with the highest numbers of lost or missing pieces of mail.

States With The Most Reports Of Lost And Missing Mail

In addition to requesting the number of lost and missing pieces of mail nationwide, we also requested data from the USPS and USPIS on when mail was reported as missing.

Figures revealed that 150,254 pieces of mail were reported missing or lost after they’d been recorded as delivered, hinting at the possibility of “porch pirates” striking over 150,000 times across three years, or 4,174 times per month on average.

California has the highest number of “after delivery” reports of lost or missing mail, recording 25,691 instances between 2022 and 2024, followed by Texas with 13,816.

Rounding off the five states with the highest numbers of post-delivery mail loss are: New York (12,021), Florida (10,316), and Illinois (6,161).

States With The Highest Rates Of Lost Or Missing Mail

The raw figures and reports from the USPS and USPIS help to reveal the sheer gravity and weight of lost and missing mail across the U.S.; however, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the states with the highest populations tend to have higher figures. To account for this, we looked at which states have the highest rate of lost or missing mail per 100K residents.

Figures showed that between 2022 and 2024, across the United States, the rate of lost or missing mail totaled 158 pieces per 100,000 people, with the District of Columbia having the highest rate of missing or lost mail (366 per 100k residents).

The District of Columbia’s lost or missing mail rate is 131% higher than the national average, and 18% higher than the state with the second-highest rate of reported mail loss, California. The Golden State was revealed to have a lost or missing mail rate of 308 pieces per 100,000 residents. 

The state with the third-highest rate of lost or missing mail is Nevada, with 295 pieces per 100,000 residents going missing or being lost between 2022 and 2024. Washington (230) and New York (211) round off the five states with the highest rates of lost or missing mail.

States With The Highest Rates Of Lost Or Missing Mail

Between 2022 and 2024, the District of Columbia was also revealed to have the highest rate of mail going missing after delivery, with 112.6 pieces per 100,000 residents going missing after being delivered.

DC’s figure is 47.6% higher than that of second-placed Nevada, which has a post-delivery missing mail rate of 76.3 per 100,000 residents. Additionally, DC's figure is 72.7% higher than that of California, where 65.2 pieces per 100,000 residents go missing after being delivered.

Zipcode Areas Where Your Mail Is Most Likely To Be Lost

In addition to the state data, our Freedom of Information Act data from the USPIS provided us with zip-code-level insight into missing and lost mail. Using U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Tract records to combine local areas with the zip codes, we were able to review the cities and counties that have experienced the most missing mail in recent years.

When it comes to overall lost and missing mail reports, Los Angeles, CA, recorded the highest figure between 2022 and 2024. A total of 9,713 instances of lost or missing mail were reported to the USPS and USPIS from LA zip codes, averaging 3,238 annually and 269.8 per month.

Close behind the City of Angels, Chicago, IL, had the second-highest number of reports of lost or missing mail in the annual figures shared by the USPIS and USPS. A combined total of 9,703 reports from Chicago zip codes between the years of data, averaging 3,234 per year, and 269.5 per month.

Brooklyn, NY, has the third-highest number of reports of lost or missing mail. A total of 9,024 instances were recorded in the analyzed figures, with an average of 3,008 per year and 250.7 per month.

Houston, TX (8343), and Sacramento, CA (7524) round off the zip code areas where people have recorded the highest numbers of missing and lost mail. 

Zip Code Areas That Have Reported The Most Lost & Missing Mail

Zip Codes With The Most “After Delivery” Loss Of Mail

The USPS and USPIS don't track stolen mail explicitly, but do track the volume of mail which is lost "after delivery", making this metric the closest proxy available. As part of our FOIA, we looked at how much mail gets lost “after delivery” so we could determine in which areas your mail is most likely to go missing after being delivered (potentially due to porch pirates).

Figures revealed that zip codes in Chicago, IL, had the highest number (2,838) of “after delivery” lost or missing reports, averaging 946 reports of mail going missing after delivery per year, and 78.8 per month.

Brooklyn, NY, was found to have the second-highest rate of mail going missing after delivery. Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 2,757 instances of mail missing after delivery were reported to the USPS and USPIS, with an average of 919 annually, and 76.6 per month. 

While Los Angeles, CA, has the highest number of lost and missing mail reports, the figure reported after delivery is the third-highest in the country. Between the annual figures analyzed, 2,511 instances of mail being lost after delivery were recorded, averaging 837 per year, and 69.8 per month. 

Rounding out the five areas of the U.S. where your mail is most likely to go missing after being delivered are Houston, TX (2,176), and the Bronx, NY (1,949).

Zip Code Areas With The Most “After Delivery” Lost Or Missing Mail 

Methodology

We submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), requesting official data related to missing, delayed, and damaged mail since 2022 at both state and Zip Code levels. This data was then analyzed against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Tract records to assign city and local designations to the Zip Codes, helping us provide in-depth insights into the local towns and areas in the U.S. with the highest rates of missing mail reports.

To evaluate the state locals, we compared the reported numbers of missing, delayed, and damaged mail with the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 population data to provide a per capita figure of 100,000 (100k).

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