A secure address for your package deliveries in Washington DC

In Washington, DC, the safest way to receive a package is to send it to a package receiving service rather than your rowhouse stoop, condo lobby, or shared entry. DC has two high-risk delivery setups: rowhouses whose front steps open onto the sidewalk, and dense condo or apartment buildings with shared access. Both sit alongside a famously transient, travel-heavy workforce that’s often out of town. 

A package receiving service accepts deliveries from any major carrier at a vetted local business near you and releases them only against your pickup PIN.

• DC is dense, majority-renter, and full of single-person households. About 41.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, packed at roughly 11,300 people per square mile across 61 square miles. The average household is just 1.99 people [source: U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Washington city, District of Columbia, accessed October 2026 ], so most deliveries land in shared space with no one home to receive them.

• It's a high-earning, high-volume delivery market. Median household income is about $109,870 and the median home value about $737,100 [source: U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Washington city, District of Columbia, 2020–2024 estimates in 2024 dollars, accessed October 2026]. Residents order more goods online, and higher-value ones 

• The national backdrop: apartment and condo residents are more than three times as likely to have a package stolen, the average stolen package is worth about $222, and porch pirates took an estimated $8.2 billion over the past year [source: Security.org, 2025 Package Theft Report, based on an October 2025 survey of 3,307 US adults, accessed October 2026 ].

• The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) does not publish package theft as a standalone crime category. Instead, package theft falls under the broader "Theft (Other)" category, which covers many types of theft beyond packages and recorded 11,663 incidents in 2025. [Source: Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), District Crime Data at a Glance (2025), accessed October 2026 ] 

1. The rowhouse stoop meets the condo lobby. DC combines two distinct exposures: historic rowhouses (Capitol Hill, Shaw, Petworth, Columbia Heights) whose front steps sit on the public sidewalk with no setback, and dense condo/apartment buildings with shared or unstaffed entries. Rowhouse packages are visible from the street the moment they're dropped, exactly the target profile porch pirates favor [source: Stickle et al., "Porch pirates," Criminal Justice Studies, 2019].

2. A transient, travel-heavy workforce. DC's economy runs on government, contractors, consultants, and Hill staff: people who travel for work, rotate on assignments, or leave during recesses. Single-person households (avg 1.99) and frequent travel mean packages often sit for days, not hours.

3. No single building default. Between rowhouses, walk-ups, and new condo towers, "how packages are handled" changes block to block, so there’s no citywide safe default except taking the package out of the shared/exposed space.

Delivery Amigo operates secure pickup locations in Washington, DC. Each partner is a vetted local business that holds packages indoors in a non-public area and releases them only against your pickup PIN.

USPS PO Box

A PO Box works well for USPS mail. The limitation is structural: USPS doesn't accept packages from UPS, FedEx, DHL, or most Amazon deliveries addressed to a PO Box. For DC residents ordering from multiple retailers, a PO Box alone is rarely a complete solution. Some PO Boxes can receive packages from other carriers, acceptance depends on availability and USPS restrictions.[Source: USPS, "Rent a PO Box"]

Parcel locker

Amazon Hub Lockers and carrier parcel lockers provide secure, self-service pickup and are convenient for many DC commuters. The trade-offs are that most lockers only accept packages from specific carriers or retailers, have size restrictions, and typically require pickup within a limited time window.

Rowhouse stoop or shared apartment entry

For many Washington, DC residents, especially those living in rowhouses, walk-ups, or apartment buildings without a doorman, packages are often left on a front stoop, porch, or in a shared lobby. While convenient, these locations leave packages visible and accessible until someone retrieves them, making them one of the highest-risk delivery options.

Building package room

If your apartment has a staffed front desk or package concierge that logs and secures deliveries, it can be a reliable solution. However, many DC buildings rely on unattended package rooms or shared mail areas where multiple residents and visitors have access, increasing the risk of misplaced or stolen packages.

Package receiving service

A package receiving service like Delivery Amigo accepts deliveries from any major carrier at a vetted local business near you. Packages are stored indoors in a secure, non-public area and released only when you provide your pickup PIN, or to someone you authorize using the PIN plus a valid government-issued photo ID. With a 7-day pickup window and online setup in minutes, it's a practical multi-carrier solution for DC residents without a doorman or secure package room.

1. Choose a location near home, work, or your Metro route. Change locations anytime.

2. Subscribe. Basic $7.50/month (up to 5); Premium $15/month (up to 15). Over-limit at $2 each.

3. Use the partner's address as your shipping address with any retailer.

4. Collect with your pickup PIN during partner hours; an authorized person brings the PIN and a valid government-issued photo ID.

Seven days to collect, starting from when the partner logs your package as received. Traveling for work or on assignment? Holding can be extended at $2 per package per additional 7 days, which is why many DC customers use the service specifically to cover travel. 

Common questions from DC customers, answered in plain language. 

I work on the Hill, and I’m in and out of SCIFs and committee hearings all day. Will I even be around during pickup hours?
Most partner locations keep evening and weekend hours specifically because DC's Hill, agency, and consulting schedules run long and unpredictable. You're not tied to a single pickup window like you are with a courtesy hold at your building. You can collect packages whenever the partner's open, any day within your 7-day window.

Congress is in recess / there's a shutdown, and I'm not sure if I'll even be in the city. Does the package just sit there? 

Yes, that's the point. Your package waits indoors at the partner for 7 days, extendable if you flag in advance that you're traveling or your schedule’s up in the air. That covers recess weeks, shutdown furloughs, or any stretch where your DC presence is unpredictable. 

I live in a group house with four roommates, and packages constantly get mixed up or go missing from the shared porch. Does this help?
Yes. Since the package ships to the partner’s address instead of your house, it’s never sitting on a shared porch for whichever roommate gets home first to sort through. You collect it yourself with your pickup PIN, so there's no ambiguity about whose box is whose.

DC's quadrant system means there are like 1500 block of X St; does this cause delivery mix-ups, and does using a partner address fix that?
It can help. Since you're shipping to a fixed, verified partner address rather than your own unit (where quadrant or apartment-number errors sometimes cause misdeliveries), you remove one common point of address confusion from the equation.

I'm an intern / here for the summer only. Is this worth setting up for a few months?
Plenty of DC customers are seasonal: interns, fellows, and short-term staffers. Since setup is online in minutes with no lease-length commitment, it fits a summer stay as easily as a multi-year one, and you cancel anytime you leave.

Does this work for embassy row / diplomatic housing, where security and delivery rules are stricter?
The service itself works the same everywhere in DC. You ship to the partner's address, not your residence, so building- or block-specific security restrictions on courier access don't come into play at all.

• Your condo has a staffed, reliable front desk that logs and holds packages.

• You only receive USPS mail; a PO Box is cheaper.

• You ship almost exclusively from Amazon, and a nearby Hub Locker works fine.

We are sharing all the options openly. Our goal is to help you find the right solution for your situation, whether that's Delivery Amigo or another option.

Pick a Washington, DC location near you, choose a plan, and you'll have your address and pickup PIN within minutes. Cancel anytime. 

• Mailbox services in Washington, DC: a smarter way to stop package theft and missed deliveries

• PO Box in Washington, DC: costs, best use cases, and how to stop stolen or lost packages

• Find a Delivery Amigo location in your city 

• MPD Package Theft Prevention: https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/package-thefts