Postage Stamp Price: 82 Cents for a Letter (July 2026)

A US postage stamp for a standard 1-ounce letter costs 82 cents. That price took effect on July 12, 2026, when the Postal Service raised it from 78 cents; the Postal Regulatory Commission approved the change on May 27, 2026.

The retail prices below are from USPS Notice 123, the official price list, effective July 12, 2026:

• Letter, 1 oz: 82 cents stamped, 78 cents metered
• Letter, 2 oz: $1.11 stamped, $1.07 metered
• Letter, 3 oz: $1.40 stamped, $1.36 metered
• Letter, 3.5 oz (the heaviest a letter can be): $1.69 stamped, $1.65 metered
• Postcard: 65 cents
• Nonmachinable surcharge for square, rigid or lumpy letters: 49 cents on top of the postage
• Large envelope (flat): $1.69 for 1 oz, then about 29 to 31 cents per extra ounce up to $5.24 at 13 oz
• International letter or postcard, 1 oz: $1.75

Metered means postage printed by a postage meter or online postage service rather than a stamp. Stamps from the post office always pay the stamped price.

Start with one Forever stamp for the first ounce, then add 29 cents for every ounce after that. A 2-ounce letter is 82 + 29 = $1.11, which matches the USPS price list.

Two Forever stamps on a 2-ounce letter are accepted, but they pay $1.64 of postage for a $1.11 letter, so you give away 53 cents. One Forever stamp plus 29 cents in other stamps is the exact amount.

Letters the Postal Service classes as nonmachinable, typically square, rigid or lumpy envelopes, pay the 49-cent nonmachinable surcharge in addition to the weight-based postage. The letter price list stops at 3.5 ounces; heavier pieces are priced as large envelopes, starting at $1.69.

Weigh anything you are unsure about before you mail it.

The first-class stamp has doubled in 19 years. It cost 41 cents when the Forever stamp was introduced in April 2007 and costs 82 cents now.

• 2006 to 2019: from 39 cents (January 2006) to 55 cents (January 2019), in small steps, including one of the few price cuts, from 49 to 47 cents in April 2016
• 2021 to 2025: six increases in five years, from 58 cents in August 2021 to 78 cents in July 2025, a 34% rise according to CBS News
• January 2026: no increase; the Postal Service announced on September 24, 2025 that the 78-cent price would stay until mid-2026
• July 12, 2026: 78 to 82 cents, part of an average 4.8% rise in mailing prices

The Postal Service gives rising labor and fuel costs and falling mail volume as the reasons. CBS News reported that the agency lost $9 billion in fiscal 2025.

As of September 25, 2026 we found no Postal Service announcement of a new stamp price for January 2027. Changes are normally filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission months in advance: the July 2026 increase was filed on April 9, 2026.

Further increases are likely. Postmaster General David Steiner has said first-class stamps should be raised to between 90 and 95 cents to stabilise the Postal Service's finances, according to CBS News in July 2026.

Forever stamps you already own are not affected by any future increase; see below.

US postage is cheap by international standards. The USPS Office of Inspector General compared the price of a stamp for a one-ounce letter in 31 countries between June 2018 and June 2023:

• The US price at the time, 63 cents, was almost half the sample average of $1.20.
• Stamps in 13 of the countries cost more than double the US price, and Italy, Finland, Estonia and Iceland charged more than triple.
• Over those five years the US price rose 26%, from 50 to 63 cents, while the average rise across the sample was 55%.

The study compared nominal prices; it did not adjust for income or purchasing power. Even at 82 cents, the US price is still below the $1.20 average that the Inspector General found in 2023.

Every US stamp issued from 1861 onward is still valid for postage at its face value. The stamps issued before 1861 were invalidated at the start of the Civil War so that stocks held in the South could not be used, and a few stamps for services that no longer exist, such as special delivery, are also excluded.

So a 10-cent stamp from 1975 still pays 10 cents. Stamps with a printed value can be combined to reach the current rate: the USPS site Stamps Forever gives the example of seven 10-cent stamps, one 5-cent and three 1-cent stamps on a single letter. A Forever stamp needs nothing added, because it always pays the current 1-ounce letter price.

The stamp must be unused and in one piece. A torn, heavily marked or previously cancelled stamp can be refused.

This matters when you inherit a box of unused mid-century stamps. Most of them are worth about their face value, and using them as postage is often the best thing to do with them: H.E. Harris, a US stamp dealer, retails mint 1951 US commemoratives at 35 cents each (heharris.com, September 2026), only a little above their 3-cent face value. Check first for anything unusual, and read used vs mint stamps before you stick them on envelopes.

People searching for a stamp's value are usually asking one of two questions: what it costs to mail a letter, which is answered above, or whether an old stamp is worth money to a collector. For the second question, the post office is no help: it only ever accepts a stamp at its face value.

A small number of US stamps sell for far more than face value, and they are separated from ordinary ones by a printing error, a scarce perforation or watermark, a grill, or top condition, not by age alone. Most valuable US stamps lists recorded auction prices with the house and date, and stamp appraisal explains how to get a collection valued.

Photograph a stamp and the app identifies it, which tells you whether it is a common issue to use as postage or one worth checking further.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI, and every price and date was checked against the sources listed below: the USPS price list and announcements, the USPS Office of Inspector General, and the news reports named in the text. Prices are those in effect on September 25, 2026.

The price of a single stamp depends on what it goes on. The Postal Service's First-Class Mail page listed these in September 2026:

• Standard rectangular letter, 1 oz: $0.82
• Square, oversized or unusual envelope: from $1.31, which is 82 cents plus the 49-cent nonmachinable surcharge
• Standard postcard: $0.65
• Oversized postcard: $0.82
• Large envelope (flat): from $1.69
• Any country abroad, 1 oz: $1.75 with a Global Forever stamp

Letters can weigh up to 3.5 ounces and large envelopes up to 13 ounces. A Forever stamp costs 82 cents, the current 1-ounce price, and never expires even when the rate goes up (USPS).

Using Forever stamps only, or one Forever stamp plus 29-cent additional-ounce stamps, with the USPS prices effective July 12, 2026:

• Up to 1 oz ($0.82): one Forever stamp
• Up to 2 oz ($1.11): two Forever stamps ($1.64, overpays 53 cents), or one Forever plus one 29-cent stamp, which is exact
• Up to 3 oz ($1.40): two Forever stamps ($1.64, overpays 24 cents), or one Forever plus two 29-cent stamps, exact
• Up to 3.5 oz ($1.69): three Forever stamps ($2.46, overpays 77 cents), or one Forever plus three 29-cent stamps, exact

Above 3.5 ounces the piece is priced as a large envelope, from $1.69. Add the 49-cent surcharge on top of any of these if the envelope is square, rigid or lumpy.

Every Forever stamp costs 82 cents, so a pack is the number of stamps times 82 cents. In September 2026 the USPS Postal Store listed:

• Book of 20: $16.40, the standard format
• Pane of 10: $8.20, for example the Barbie design
• American Icons: $10.66, the price of 13 stamps

For a count the Postal Store does not list, multiply: 12 stamps come to $9.84 and 100 to $82.00. Online orders add a handling fee; buying at a Post Office counter does not. See cheapest stamps for the fee and other ways to pay less.