A percentage tells you nothing about your parcel. Three cartons on one lane tell you plenty.
What the filing actually says
Taken from the USPS news release dated May 11, 2026, read on 2026-07-28 at about.usps.com. These are the changes it names, in its own wording where the wording matters.
- Elimination of ounce-based rate differentiation for published Commercial USPS Ground Advantage prices, which will not impact customers that have negotiated commercial rates for USPS Ground Advantage.
- A competitive PO Box price increase of 3 percent.
- The Postal Service will align the divisor for dimensional weight pieces to industry standards for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select.
- New fees for handling hazardous materials on Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail, plus a noncompliance fee for improperly prepared hazardous material items shipped using competitive package products.
Notice the absence. There is no single figure in that list for what an ordinary parcel now costs, which is why every summary you read gives a different number. The Postal Service points readers to the Postal Regulatory Commission filing under Docket No. CP2026-8 and to its own price list for the detail.
The May filing is not the whole year for packages. On March 25, 2026 USPS announced a time-limited 8 percent increase on base postage for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select, in force from April 26, 2026. On August 25 it added a holiday price change on the same four products from October 4, 2026; the per-parcel amounts are on our peak season surcharge page. Both are scheduled to end on January 17, 2027.
Sources: the USPS news releases dated March 25, 2026 and August 25, 2026, read at about.usps.com on 2026-10-06.
If you send anything with a battery, an aerosol or a flammable in it, the hazardous materials line is the one to read twice. Our shipping restrictions page covers what can and cannot travel and how to describe it at checkout.
The divisor line is the expensive one
A dimensional weight divisor turns length, width and height into a billable weight. Lower the divisor and every oversized box gets heavier on paper. To show what that does in practice we quoted the same 5 lb of contents in three different cartons on the same lane, on the same day.
| Carton | Weight on the scale | Cheapest rate returned | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 10 x 6 in | 5 lb | UPS Ground Saver | $13.52 |
| 18 x 14 x 10 in | 5 lb | UPS Ground Saver | $20.50 |
| 24 x 18 x 14 in | 5 lb | UPS Ground | $36.75 |
Nothing changed but the cardboard. The scale read 5 lb in all three cases and the price went from $13.52 to $36.75, which is what any divisor change is really about. Read the mechanics in our dimensional weight guide.
An ordinary box, on the list now in force
For a sense of the current level rather than the current change, here is a 14 x 12 x 8 in carton at 8 lb, quoted on 2026-07-28 between the same two ZIPs. All five rates that came back are printed.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Transit window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $15.64 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $15.71 | none returned |
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $15.73 | 8-9 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $20.02 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $22.23 | 5-6 business days |
Three carriers landed within nine cents of each other on the economy tier. When the bottom of the market is that tightly bunched, a price change of a few percent moves the whole floor rather than handing anyone an advantage.
One thing this page will not do is show you a before-and-after column. We captured the current price list, not the one it replaced, and inventing the earlier figures to make a nicer table would be worse than leaving the space empty.
Requote, do not remember
A price you wrote down in June is a fact about June. Carriers file changes on their own schedules and the only reliable number is the one on the screen when you pay.
Watch the carton, not the headline
A divisor alignment moves more money on an oversized box than any percentage does on a small one. If your packing runs generous, that is where your increase came from.
Hazardous goods got their own fees
The filing adds handling fees for hazardous materials and a noncompliance fee for badly prepared ones. Describe contents accurately at checkout rather than hoping nobody looks.
The 2026 change, answered
When did USPS prices change in 2026?
USPS filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission on May 11, 2026 and the package price changes took effect on July 12, 2026. Notice 123, the USPS price list, carries that same effective date on the version in force. Two time-limited changes also apply to packages this year: an 8 percent transportation-related increase from April 26, 2026 and a holiday increase from October 4, 2026, both scheduled to end on January 17, 2027.
How much did USPS shipping go up in 2026?
The May filing names specific changes rather than a package-wide percentage, and the only percentage in it is a 3 percent rise on competitive PO Box prices. The time-limited changes do carry figures: 8 percent on base postage for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select from April 26, 2026, and a holiday increase from October 4, 2026 of $0.50 to $20.80 per parcel at retail, depending on product, zone and weight. We did not capture the previous price list, so no before-and-after column appears anywhere on this page.
What is the dimensional weight divisor change?
USPS said it will align the divisor for dimensional weight pieces to industry standards for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. In practice a box that is large for its weight gets billed on its volume, and our 2026-07-28 quotes show the same 5 lb costing $13.52, $20.50 and $36.75 as the carton grew.
Should I rush a shipment before a price change?
Not now. The July 12, 2026 prices are in force and the holiday change began on October 4. The next date USPS has named is January 17, 2027, when both time-limited changes are scheduled to end. The habit worth keeping is quoting each box fresh instead of reusing a number you wrote down last month, because carriers reprice on their own timetables.