Seventy-four percent (74%) of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that the price of a first class postage stamp will be $1 or more within the next 10 years. Forty-six percent (46%) say it’s Very Likely.

Younger Americans are more likely to expect a big jump in the price of a stamp than their elders in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

But neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night – nor even the higher price of stamps and the ease of e-mail – changes the high opinion most Americans have of the U.S. Postal Service.

Sixty percent (60%) of adults have a favorable view of the Postal Service. Just 23% view the Postal Service unfavorably, and 17% are undecided.
Sixty-eight percent (68%) of women have a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, compared to 53% of men. Those ages 30 to 49 have a higher opinion of the mail service than those younger and older.

Higher-income earners have a far more favorable view than those who earn less than $40,000 per year.

Two-thirds of all adults (66%) rate America’s postal system as better than most other countries in the world. Only six percent (6%) say it’s worse that the postal service in most other nations. Ten percent (10%) say the U.S. system is about the same as others.

These views are largely unchanged from two years ago, just after the Postal Service raised the price of a first class stamp to 41 cents.

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Fifty-nine percent (59%) now correctly note that the price of a first class stamp is 44 cents, which indicates a lot of folks are still using the mail system since that price just went up earlier this month. Only 13% think a stamp still costs 41 cents, and 15% of adults are not sure what they cost.

But in findings that strongly suggest who uses the mail and who doesn’t, fewer than half (45%) of those ages 18 to 29 knew the current price of a first class stamp. Awareness of the new price rose with the age of the respondent, with the highest level (68%) among those 65 and older.

Earlier this year, Postal Service officials said they might have to cut mail delivery back from six-days-a-week to five because of reduced revenue.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Americans said five-day-a-week service was preferable to them than another increase in postal rates.

Americans are fairly closely divided over whether private companies should be allowed to offer first class mail delivery in competition with the Postal Service. Thirty-eight percent (38%) favor allowing private companies to deliver first class mail, but 43% oppose the idea.

Thirty-six percent (36%) believe the mail service would be worse if it was run by a private company like Federal Express or UPS. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say mail delivery would be better, and 22% think it would be about the same. This represents a drop-off in confidence in private companies from two years ago.

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