ATLANTA — Atlanta residents who have spent quality time staring at a “Closed” sign or shuffling through a line that moves like rush-hour traffic on I-285 now have data to back up their frustration: a new study ranks Atlanta’s post offices dead last among 58 major American cities.
What’s happening: Sudoku Bliss, a puzzle website, analyzed about 216,000 Google reviews across 1,235 post offices in 58 cities, flagging reviews of three stars or fewer that mentioned problems with waits, staff, or mail. Half of all Atlanta post office reviews contained a complaint — the highest rate in the country and well above the national average of 37%.
The numbers: Atlanta’s worst-performing branches are consistent in their awfulness:
- 3495 Buckhead Loop NE Ste 115: 64% of reviews are negative, 1.5-star rating across 238 reviews
- 1799 Briarcliff Rd NE Frnt: 63% negative, 1.4-star rating across 235 reviews
- 2260 Fairburn Rd SW: 62% negative, 1.7-star rating across 128 reviews
Atlanta holds five of the ten worst-reviewed post offices in the entire country. The city’s best-reviewed branch is at 50 Sunset Ave NW.
What people are saying: The three words appearing most often in Atlanta complaints are “rude,” “line,” and “closed.” Nationally, the word “rude” shows up nearly 24,000 times in negative reviews, beating out “line” and “wait” as the single most common complaint word. Across all 58 cities, waits account for about 46% of complaint mentions and staff attitude about 45%, while lost, stolen, or damaged mail trails at roughly 10%.
Catch up quick: Atlanta’s postal problems are not new. A federal audit of the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center found more than $16 million in questioned costs, including $8 million in overtime that supervisors never formally approved. About one in five employees at the facility is absent on any given day. Separately, four Central Georgia post offices in Warner Robins, Macon, Perry, and Gray failed federal audits, with nearly 800 packages sitting undelivered in Warner Robins alone. USPS projects a net loss of $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2025.
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
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