Jul 9, 2026
The price of a first-class Forever stamp is going up again, marking the fourth increase in the last two years.
The U.S. Postal Service will increase the price of a stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents as it continues to struggle financially. With the increase, the cost of a Forever stamp will have increased 30% since the start of July in 2023.
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It was just 2007 when stamp prices were half of their new price.
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“In the midst of the severe financial crisis facing the Postal Service and continued rising operational costs, the Postal Service is using all available tools, including available regulatory pricing authority, to ensure we can continue to fulfill our universal service obligation and serve the American public,” the USPS said in a statement. “Notwithstanding the adjustment, the Postal Service’s mailing prices remain among the most affordable in the world.”
The USPS last changed the price of a Forever stamp in July 2025.
Financial woes
The USPS has been beset by financial losses for quite some time. In the most recent quarter, the agency reported a net loss of $2 billion, despite higher revenues and lower operating costs. Fewer people are using the service these days as communicating electronically continues to be the preferred way to send messages, and as consumers opt for private carriers (such as FedEx and UPS) for personal packages. Overall mail volumes fell 3.4% to 25.6 billion pieces. First-Class Mail saw a 6.3% drop.
In addition, The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) created a fund requiring the USPS to prepay health care benefits for postal service retirees, which has contributed to the agency’s losses ever since. (The agency has recorded a net loss each year since the PAEA was passed.)
Beyond the increasingly frequent increase in postage rates, the postal service has also added surcharges onto packages sent during the holiday season that increased costs by up to $16 per package. And in April, it announced a “temporary“ 8% surcharge on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select shipments - both retail and commercial.
This May, it unveiled a 3% increase in the price of PO box rentals. And increased shipping costs for people (and mostly companies) that send large, lightweight packages.
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A rapid escalation
Fifty years ago, a first-class stamp cost just 13 cents and it didn’t cross the quarter threshold until April 1988.
Here’s a look at how much stamp prices have increased in the past 20 years.
- January 8, 2006: 39¢
- May 14, 2007: 41¢
- May 12, 2008: 42¢
- May 11, 2009: 44¢
- January 22, 2012: 45¢
- January 27, 2013: 46¢
- January 26, 2014: 49¢
- April 10, 2016: 47¢ (an extremely rare price decrease)
- January 22, 2017: 49¢
- January 21, 2018: 50¢
- January 27, 2019: 55¢
- August 29, 2021: 58¢
- July 10, 2022: 60¢
- January 22, 2023: 63¢
- July 9, 2023: 66¢
- January 21, 2024: 68¢
- July 14, 2024: 73¢
- July 13, 2025: 78¢
- July 12, 2026: 82¢
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
