Who Runs Post Offices in Minnesota

Mail in Minnesota moves through a network the state does not operate. Every post office here belongs to the United States Postal Service, an independent federal agency. No state department sets counter hours, postage prices or staffing. Our database lists 789 offices across 87 counties, from busy Minneapolis branches to small counters in towns of a few hundred people. This page explains how that network is organised and how to get a task done at the right counter.

The Postal Service is overseen by a Board of Governors, and the Postal Regulatory Commission reviews its rates and service standards. Both sit in Washington, D.C. If you have a complaint about a Minnesota office, start with the postmaster at that location. Next, use the USPS customer service channels. Your U.S. representative's district office can also help with stalled cases.

The state still touches the mail in several ways. The Minnesota Secretary of State sets the rules for absentee and mail ballots. Driver and Vehicle Services, part of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, handles licenses, plates and titles. County elections offices and county auditor-treasurers handle local paperwork. None of these tasks happens at the post office, and it saves a trip to know the difference.

Minnesota ZIP Codes run in the 550 to 567 range. The first three digits point to a regional sorting area. The last two identify the delivery office. That last part matters, because a ZIP Code sometimes follows the mail route rather than the town boundary.

The types of offices you will find

Not every counter offers the same services. Minnesota has several kinds of retail locations:

Metro Post Offices in Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota Counties

The Twin Cities area has the densest cluster of offices in the state. Minneapolis alone has 36 listings in our database, and St. Paul has 21. Hennepin County leads all Minnesota counties with 51 listings. Ramsey County has 14, and Dakota County has 16.

Suburban addresses can confuse newcomers. The Bloomington Post Office at 9641 Garfield Avenue South carries a Minneapolis mailing city. The Apple Valley Post Office at 7287 153rd Street West uses a St. Paul mailing city, even though Apple Valley is a Dakota County suburb. The Postal Service assigns mailing names by delivery area, not by city limits. Always use the mailing city and ZIP Code printed on your mail, even if your city hall uses a different name.

Metro offices give you more choices. You can often find one with Saturday hours, and larger locations usually have self-service kiosks for lobby use. The tradeoff is crowding. Lunch hours and the days after a holiday bring long lines. Mid-morning on a Tuesday or Wednesday is usually calmer.

Many metro residents also use their nearest office for a PO Box rather than home delivery. Apartment buildings, rental properties and moves between suburbs make a box a stable address. Ask about box sizes and rental terms at the counter. Prices depend on the size of the box and the ZIP Code, so confirm them before you commit.

Using the phone before you drive

Hours and passport availability change by location. Calling ahead is practical, and the numbers in our listings help. The Bloomington office is 952-884-5258. The Apple Valley office is 952-997-3031. If a task needs a specific clerk or a scheduled appointment, a two-minute call can save a trip.

Northern Minnesota: Duluth, the Iron Range and the Border

North of the metro area, offices are fewer and farther apart. St. Louis County has 37 listings. It is the largest county east of the Mississippi in land area, so one county can include a lake-port city and remote forest communities. The Duluth Post Office at 2800 West Michigan Street (218-723-2526) serves the largest city in the region. The Keewatin Post Office, with a Hibbing mailing address at 123 West 3rd Avenue, serves a smaller Iron Range community.

Itasca County has 15 listings, and Bovey, with three, is one of the most represented small cities in our data. The Bovey Post Office at 500 2nd Street can be reached at 218-245-2133. Many Iron Range towns grew around mining, and each kept its own post office. That is why a county with modest population still has many listings.

Along the Canadian border, the International Falls Post Office at 400 4th Street (218-283-3331) in Koochiching County handles a lot of cross-border mail. Baudette, in Lake of the Woods County, has a post office at 10424 Minnesota 11 (218-634-2103). Mail to Canada is international mail. It needs the correct customs form, a full description of the contents and the right postage. Ask the clerk to check the item before you seal it.

Winter shapes service here. Heavy snow, long distances and rural roads can slow rural carriers. Mail pickup at a PO Box is often more dependable than waiting for a route in a storm. If you spend summers at a lake home, a box or a temporary mail hold avoids missed deliveries.

Tribal and rural communities

Some offices anchor communities with few other services. Naytahwaush, in Mahnomen County on the White Earth Reservation, has a post office at 2531 310th Avenue (218-935-2430). Red Lake Falls, in Red Lake County, has one at 118 Champagne Avenue Southwest (218-253-2794). Hines, in Beltrami County, is at 22061 Hines Road Northeast (218-835-4722). In places like these, the post office is often where people pick up prescriptions shipped by mail, benefit letters and parcels from online orders. Otter Tail County, with 18 listings, and Polk County, with 13, show the same pattern across the western part of the state.

Southern and Central Minnesota Offices

Regional centers anchor the south. The Mankato Post Office at 401 South 2nd Street (507-625-6587) serves Blue Earth County. The Red Wing Post Office at 222 West Avenue (651-388-8637) sits on the Mississippi River in Goodhue County. In Rochester, the Bear Creek Station at 1224 Eastgate Drive Southeast (507-281-0573) serves Olmsted County, home to a large medical community that sends and receives a high volume of mail and parcels.

Farther south, the Albert Lea Post Office at 141 South Newton Avenue (507-373-3167) serves Freeborn County. Mower County has two examples with different mailing cities: the Lansing office on 270th Street carries an Austin address, and the Lyle Post Office at 106 Grove Street is in its own town. In the middle of the state, the Brainerd Post Office at 422 Laurel Street (218-829-3101) serves the Crow Wing County lakes area, and the Cloquet Post Office at 316 Cloquet Avenue (218-879-9442) serves Carlton County.

In farm country, small offices often serve a rural route that covers dozens of miles. Silver Creek, in Wright County, has an office on 112th Street Northwest with a Maple Lake mailing address. Castle Rock, in Rice County, uses a Northfield mailing address. If your GPS shows a different town from your mail, this is the reason.

What to Bring and When to Go

A little preparation makes any Minnesota post office visit quicker. Use this checklist:

Plan around the season, too. Fall and winter holidays bring the heaviest lines. Spring brings tax-season mailings. Summer brings forwarding requests as people move to cabins and lake homes. Whichever office you use, a short call ahead is the most reliable way to get exact hours and services.

Post offices in Minnesota are part of the national USPS network, operating under regional district management to deliver uniform service standards while accommodating the specific needs of urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state. Larger cities in Minnesota may have multiple post offices and main processing facilities.

Post Office locations are available in 697 cities across Minnesota. They are spread across 87 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration of post office locations include Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, reflecting densely populated areas with multiple branch offices serving different neighborhoods and zip codes.

Residents of Minnesota can use the USPS website to find the closest post office, check current lobby and window hours, locate self-service kiosks available after hours, and track incoming and outgoing mail and packages from their phones or computers.

Post Office by Counties

A
B
C
D
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
W
Y

Post Office by Cities

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z

Residents of Minnesota can save time by using USPS online tools to schedule package pickups from home, print prepaid shipping labels, and set up mail forwarding or hold requests without visiting a post office. When visiting a post office in Minnesota for passport acceptance, call ahead to confirm that the specific location offers the service and whether an appointment is required.

Browse Post Office by county across Minnesota to find the nearest location.

Seasonal Mail, Lake Homes and Small-Town Counters

Minnesota's climate and geography create mail problems that other states see less often. Thousands of households split the year between a city home and a lake cabin. Others live on roads that become hard to reach after a heavy snowfall. Knowing which postal tools fit your situation keeps bills, medications and ballots from piling up in the wrong mailbox.

For seasonal residents, the Postal Service offers temporary forwarding, which sends mail to another address for a set period, and hold-mail service for short absences. A PO Box at the nearest office is a third option, and it works well in places like the Brainerd lakes area or Itasca County. Rural residents should also remember that route carriers deliver in all weather, but a blocked road can delay a delivery by a day or more. When your mailbox is hard to reach, clear a safe path to it.

Small communities depend on their post offices in ways larger cities do not. In many towns the counter is the main public service building. If you want to know whether your local office offers a specific service, such as passport acceptance, call before you go. The questions below cover the most common Minnesota issues.

No. Post offices in Minnesota are run by the United States Postal Service, an independent federal agency. The state does not set hours, staffing or prices. If an office closes early, loses a package or has a service problem, contact the local postmaster first. If that does not work, use USPS customer service or ask your member of Congress for help. State agencies handle other tasks, such as driver's licenses and election rules, that sometimes involve the mail.

The Postal Service assigns mailing cities based on delivery areas, not municipal borders. The Bloomington office at 9641 Garfield Avenue South lists Minneapolis as its mailing city. The Apple Valley office at 7287 153rd Street West lists St. Paul, and the Keewatin office is listed under Hibbing. Always write the mailing city and ZIP Code exactly as the Postal Service prints them, because that is what sorting equipment reads. Your city hall or county may use a different name for the same location.

Many full-service post offices accept passport applications, but not all do, and small offices often have limited appointment times. Call the office first. For example, Mankato's number is 507-625-6587. Bring a completed application, proof of citizenship, a valid photo ID and a passport photo if the office does not provide one. The State Department fee and the post office's acceptance fee are separate payments. Confirm current amounts on the USPS site before you go, since fees can change.

You have three main options. A PO Box at the nearest office, such as Brainerd, Bovey or Baudette, lets you collect mail whenever you visit. Temporary forwarding sends mail from one address to another for a set period, and you can arrange it online or at the counter. A hold-mail request keeps your mail at the office for a short absence. Tell the office your dates in advance, and ask whether your carrier route serves the cabin address before deciding.

Federal law requires the Postal Service to give a community notice and a chance to comment before it discontinues an office. In practice, that means a public meeting or written comment period, and a decision that can be appealed. Residents of towns like Hines, Ellendale, Hartland or Edgerton can contact the local postmaster, their county commissioners and their congressional office. Written comments that describe who relies on the office, such as seniors, farms and small businesses, carry the most weight.

Minnesota lets any eligible voter request an absentee ballot, and many people return it by mail. Deadlines and return rules are set by the Minnesota Secretary of State and your county elections office, not the post office, so check them for each election. Mail your ballot well before the deadline, especially from rural areas where collection times are fixed. You can also ask your county elections office about drop-off options. For a trackable return, ask the clerk about the mailing options available at your counter, such as in Blue Earth County or elsewhere.