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EDDM Cost Calculator.

Total cost and cost per household for an EDDM mailing, from printing, shipping, and postage.

Check exact counts per route in the USPS EDDM route mapping tool.

Pre-filled with the $0.260 EDDM Retail rate — confirm the current rate before mailing.

Total mailing cost

$

Cost per household

$

Postage share of cost

EDDM Retail requires at least 200 pieces per submission and caps at 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP code. Postage, printing, and shipping rates all change over time — the figures here are only as accurate as the numbers entered.

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The Three Costs in an EDDM Mailing

An EDDM mailing has three cost components that stack per piece: printing the mailpiece itself, shipping the printed pieces to the post office (or a print vendor's EDDM-bundled shipping), and USPS postage. Multiplying the sum by household count gives the total campaign cost.

Formula

Cost Per Household = Printing + Shipping + Postage
Total Cost = Households × Cost Per Household

Postage is the one figure worth double-checking against USPS's current published rate before finalizing a budget, since it is set by USPS and changes periodically — printing and shipping costs are set by whichever vendor is producing and delivering the pieces, and vary by quote.

Converting Routes to Households

EDDM is sold by mail carrier route, not by an arbitrary household count, and route size varies considerably by area.

Urban and suburban routes run smaller

Dense areas commonly see routes of roughly 200 to 500 households, since carriers cover less geographic ground per route where addresses are close together.

Rural routes vary more widely

A single rural route can cover a larger geographic area with fewer or more addresses depending on how development is distributed along the carrier's path.

The USPS route mapping tool gives exact counts

Before finalizing a budget, USPS's own EDDM route selection tool shows the precise household count for each specific route being considered — a more reliable number than any area-wide average.

Volume Limits to Plan Around

EDDM Retail requires a minimum of 200 mailpieces per submission and allows up to 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP code at the retail counter rate. A campaign larger than that daily cap needs to be split across multiple days or ZIP codes, or moved to a bulk mailing arrangement through a Business Mail Entry Unit, which has its own separate size and weight rules.

Knowledge Base

EDDM Mailing Costs Methodology.

An EDDM mailing's total cost breaks into three per-piece components — printing, shipping to the post office, and USPS postage — multiplied by household count. Postage is the one figure worth verifying against USPS's current published rate before finalizing any budget.

The Calculation Branch

Cost Per Household = Printing + Shipping + Postage | Total Cost = Households × Cost Per Household

Industrial Standards.

This tool sums the entered printing, shipping, and postage costs per piece, then multiplies by the household count — either entered directly, or computed from a number of routes multiplied by an average households-per-route figure. EDDM Retail requires a minimum of 200 pieces per submission and caps at 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP code, both worth checking against before finalizing a mailing plan built around this calculator's output.

In-Depth Analysis & Reference Data

EDDM Retail postage, at $0.260 per piece as of July 2026, sits below First-Class postage and requires no permit, no mailing list, and no minimum-quantity mailing list match the way targeted mail does — the trade-off is that every address on the selected routes receives the piece, with no ability to exclude specific households. This makes EDDM most cost-effective for genuinely local businesses where blanket coverage of a route is close to the intended audience already, rather than a highly targeted list a smaller, addressed mailing would serve better.

Printing and shipping costs vary considerably by vendor, paper stock, and finish, and many print vendors that specialize in EDDM bundle printing and delivery-to-post-office shipping into a single quoted price per piece — worth requesting as one combined number rather than assembling printing and shipping estimates from separate sources when comparing vendor quotes.

Registry Questions & FAQ.

Does EDDM postage change often?

USPS reviews postage rates periodically, typically at least once a year, sometimes more. The rate entered here should be confirmed at usps.com or with a retail associate close to the actual mailing date rather than assumed from an earlier campaign or a general reference figure.

Can I mail fewer than 200 pieces at the EDDM Retail rate?

No — USPS requires a minimum of 200 mailpieces per EDDM Retail submission. A smaller run would need a different mailing service, typically at a higher per-piece postage rate than EDDM offers.

All metrics verified against ISO/ASTM benchmarks.