Junk mail is a topic that we cover extensively here on our site. For our guide below, we scoured the internet to provide up-to-date resources on junk mail statistics in the US. We did our best to verify sources and include citations for the most interesting junk mail facts.
The Massive Volume
The USPS delivered 56.8 billion pieces of Marketing Mail in 2025, down from 57.5 billion in 2024.[1] What is more interesting: in 2024, the USPS delivered 112 billion pieces of mail total.[2] That means roughly half of all mail delivered in the US is marketing mail. Not letters, not bills -- ads.
Some of this includes Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM). If you do not recognize the name, you likely know what it looks like -- local pizza coupons, Valpak envelopes, neighborhood flyers. These bypass national opt-out lists entirely. EDDM alone accounted for nearly 3 billion pieces in 2024, generating $588 million in revenue for USPS.[3]
Submit an address removal request on the Valpak website. You will need to provide your complete address. It can take 2 to 3 months before the removal takes effect.
The Environmental Impact
Americans receive somewhere between 41 and 69 pounds of junk mail per year -- different sources account for the range, but either way it is too much.[4][5]
80 to 100 million trees are cut down every year in the US to produce junk mail, according to the Center for Development of Recycling at San Jose State University. If left standing, those trees would absorb approximately 1.7 million tons of CO2 annually.[6]
The production process also consumes an estimated 28 billion gallons of water every year -- enough to fill over 42,000 Olympic swimming pools.[7] That is water spent on mail that 44% of recipients throw away without ever opening it, according to EPA data.[8] For anything you still receive, most of it can be recycled. But recycling alone does not fix the problem -- the trees, water, and energy are already spent before the mail hits your box.
Junk mail produces approximately 51.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually -- equivalent to the emissions of 11 million passenger vehicles, according to VoLo Foundation research.[9]
What It Costs Taxpayers
Local governments spend an estimated $320 million per year disposing of junk mail that ends up in the municipal waste stream.[8] That money comes out of local budgets -- the same ones funding parks, libraries, and public services. The companies sending the mail pay none of it.
The Time Cost
Michigan State University Extension estimates that the average American spends about eight months of their life sorting through junk mail.[5] Opening it, scanning it, deciding it is junk, throwing it away. Eight months.
Is It Getting Better?
Kind of. USPS mail volume has dropped nearly 50% since its peak of 213 billion pieces in 2006, landing at 112 billion in 2024.[2]
But do not read too much into that. Direct mail advertising in the US was a $22.9 billion industry in 2025, and 82% of enterprise marketers increased their direct mail budgets in 2024.[10] The volume is down, but the money and intent behind it is not.
Ready to opt out?
Our free opt-out kit walks you through the whole process in about 20 minutes -- DMAchoice, OptOutPrescreen, CatalogChoice, and more. All in one place.