Amazon.com announced on Wednesday that it will invest more than $4 billion to expand its rural delivery network across the United States by the end of 2026, aiming to accelerate shipping speeds and capture growing demand from customers in small towns and remote areas.
The expansion will increase Amazon’s rural delivery infrastructure to more than 200 delivery stations, tripling the size of its existing network. The initiative is expected to create 100,000 new jobs, the company said in a statement.
“Once the expansion is complete, our network will be able to deliver over a billion more packages each year to customers living in over 13,000 ZIP codes spanning 1.2 million square miles,” Amazon said.
Faster delivery has been a cornerstone of Amazon’s strategy to maintain its dominance in e-commerce, particularly in competition with rivals such as Walmart and Target. The company noted that the new investment will cut average delivery times to rural customers in half.
For each new facility opened, Amazon estimates it will create approximately 170 jobs, contributing to the company’s status as one of the largest private employers in the United States.
The announcement comes just one day before Amazon is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings. Shares of the company rose 3% in after-hours trading, buoyed by strong earnings from tech peers Meta and Microsoft.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Amazon is also considering a $15 billion warehouse expansion plan that would add approximately 80 new logistics facilities across both urban and rural regions of the U.S., further underscoring the company’s commitment to scaling its logistics capabilities.
