Courier / Delivery Rider
📦Delivers food, parcels and documents on foot, by bike or by car: routes, the app, deadlines and any weather.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $47k a year on average · +8% jobs by 2035 · 23,800 openings a year
Couriers & messengers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £27.7k median a year · 82,000 jobs
Delivery drivers and couriers — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Delivery robots, drones and parcel lockers already operate; by 2035 much delivery will be automated, leaving couriers for tricky addresses.
Who it suits
Interests: ✈️ Transport, flying, sea, 🏃 Sport and movement.
Key strengths: strength and stamina.
Where to study
- Course Sign-up with a delivery platform (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, DoorDash), onboarding in a day
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): PE.
🧗 Sign up with a platform (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, DoorDash) as self-employed; you need the right to work and a bike, scooter or car. A decent side job, not a career for the future.
Things to know
🌙 Night shifts and on-call🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells
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