USPS stamp price history by year.

Every rate change since 1863

The table below is the Postal Service’s own list, read on November 11, 2026, of the postage for a domestic letter at each change since July 1, 1863. Two early rows were charged per half ounce (1863 and 1883); from July 1, 1885 the rate is per ounce, and from September 14, 1975 the USPS footnote says additional ounces were charged a lower rate, so every price here is for the first ounce. The change column is our subtraction. The last column converts each price into 2025 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U annual average for the year of the change and for 2025 (321.943); it is a derived figure, and years before 1913 have no CPI-U annual average, so they show the nominal rate only.

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How to read the table

A rate stays in force until the next row, so the price for any date is the last row on or before it. The year lookup above does exactly that for January 1 and December 31 of the year you type and names any change in between. The longest stretch without a change ran from July 1, 1885 to November 2, 1917, 32 years at 2 cents, interrupted only by a wartime rise to 3 cents in 1917 that was reversed on July 1, 1919. The 3-cent rate set on July 6, 1932 lasted 26 years, until August 1, 1958. From 1958 to 1981 the price rose in steps of one to three cents roughly every three to five years; from 2001 the gaps shortened, and 2023 and 2024 each carried two changes, one in January and one in July. The table ends at 82 cents on July 12, 2026. Nothing is listed for 2027, and this page does not guess.

The 2016 cut

One row runs the other way. On April 10, 2016 the letter rate fell from 49 to 47 cents, and on January 22, 2017 it went back to 49 cents. The USPS table records both dates without comment; the lookup for 2016 shows the January rate of 49 cents, the April change to 47 cents, and 47 cents at the end of the year. If you are reconciling old postage, remember that a stamp bought in late 2016 was 47 cents, not 49.

What a stamp cost in today’s money

Nominal prices make the early rates look trivial, so the last column restates each one with the CPI-U. The 4-cent stamp of August 1958 is worth about $0.45 in 2025 dollars (CPI-U 28.858 in 1958 against 321.943 in 2025), and the 32-cent stamp of January 1995 about $0.68 (152.383 against 321.943). Against those, the 82-cent price of July 2026 is higher in real terms than the 1958 and 1995 rates, and the 2019 to 2026 run from 55 to 82 cents is a 49% nominal rise in seven years. The converter uses the BLS annual average for the whole year of the rate change, not the month, so a July change is compared at the year’s average; the 2026 figure is the January to October average and is labelled partial.

Worked example: a 1958 letter

Type 1958 and keep 2025 dollars. The lookup reports 4 cents at the end of 1958, the change on August 1, 1958 from 3 to 4 cents, and $0.45 as the 2025 equivalent of 4 cents, a CPI-U move from 28.858 to 321.943, or 1015.6%. The nominal change from 4 cents to today’s 82 cents is +78 cents, or 1950%. Change the dollars-of year to 1990 and the same 4 cents converts at 130.658, giving $0.18.

What the table does not show

• Additional-ounce prices. The USPS footnote says only that extra ounces were charged a lower rate from September 14, 1975; the amounts are not listed.
• The surcharge for non-standard envelope sizes that the footnote says applies since July 15, 1979.
• Postcard, metered, Forever stamp or international rates. The history page does not mention Forever stamps at all; the current prices for those are on the stamp price calculator.
• Any 2027 price. The table ends on July 12, 2026.

Method

The 41 dates and prices were copied from the USPS Postal History page “Rates for Domestic Letters Since 1863” on November 11, 2026, including the half-ounce note for 1863 and 1883 and the first-ounce footnote. The 2025-dollar column multiplies each price by the ratio of the BLS CPI-U annual average for 2025 to the average for the year of the change, using the same series as our CPI by year page (CUUR0000SA0; the 2025 average BLS publishes is 321.943). The lookup and the converter run in your browser and send nothing.

Figures read from the sources below on November 11, 2026. Last updated November 11, 2026.

Sources

• USPS Postal History: Rates for Domestic Letters Since 1863 (effective dates and prices, half-ounce note, first-ounce footnote) (retrieved November 11, 2026)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, all items, 1982-84=100; annual averages used for the 2025-dollar column) (retrieved November 11, 2026)