Union membership has been declining since 1983, and reached a historic low in 2024. There was a slight rise in 2020, but this has been attributed to union members being less likely to lose their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the rate of union membership declined again to 9.9 percent. Despite this constant decline, the number of workers represented by a union increased in 2023.

The share of workers in the United States who are members of labor unions has been on the decline since 1983. While rates of union membership have gotten closer between men and women, the rate of male union membership has declined more drastically than that of women. In 2024, **** percent of working men were union members compared to *** percent of women.

Labor unions, also known as trade unions, reached their peak in the advanced industrial countries of the G7 and Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) in the late twentieth century; since the 1980s however, their memberships have declined drastically, in some countries by as much as 50 percent. The labor movement arose in the nineteenth century to represent workers' interests in collective bargaining and to protests against poor wages and work conditions. From their peak in the twentieth century, unions have declined to represent much smaller numbers of workers today, in many countries being active mainly among public sector workers, such as in the United States. The rise and fall of union power In their rise during the twentieth century, labor unions were tightly connected to political parties of social democratic or socialist bent, while also being connected with Christian democrats in some continental European countries. As these parties came to power in the post-WWII period, unions were institutionalized into a system of social partnership with employers and the government in many countries. This agreement minimized labor disputes, while focusing on increasing productivity, which led to a period of unprecedented economic growth. As this system ran up against intractable economic problems in the 1970s, however, parties came to power who pursued a 'neoliberal' agenda of liberalization of the labor market and the privatization of nationalized companies. Since the late 1970s, these policies have caused union membership to decline drastically, as unions could engage in the same level of collective bargaining in a more interconnected and globalized international economy.

In 2024, there were around 14.26 million workers who were members of labor unions in the United States. This follows a general decline in union membership and was a decrease from 2023, when there were roughly 14.42 billion union members in the United States.

Union membership has been on the decline across all industries in the United States since 2000. While rates of union membership in the public sector are significantly higher than the private sector, the rate has been declining since 2000. In 2024, **** percent of public sector workers were union members.

The United States Department of Labor tells us that "Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."

This database of state-level union membership and coverage from 1983 to 2015 was originally compiled by Barry Hirsch (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University) and David Macpherson (Department of Economics, Trinity University). The database, available at unionstats.com provides private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS) using BLS methods.

Use of this data requires citation of the following paper which also includes a description of how the database was created: Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson, "Union Membership and Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey: Note," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 56, No. 2, January 2003, pp. 349-54. (PDF).

In 2024, union membership was highest among those working in the public sector, with around **** percent of local government workers being union members. In the private sector, workers in the transportation and utilities industry had the highest union membership rates, with **** percent of workers in unions.

The dataset contains population, employment, and union membership totals of workers in the 50 states, as of 2021. The data was collected from the Census Bureau's labor force statistics and Wikipedia.

In 2024, Hawaii had the highest rate of union membership among its working population, with 26.5 percent being a union member. The least unionized state was South Dakota, with a rate of 2.7 percent.

We study direct and indirect effects of Chinese import competition on union membership in the United States, 1990-2014. Import competition in manufacturing induced a modest decline in unionization within manufacturing industries. The magnitude is small because unionized manufacturers competed in higher-quality product segments. Manufacturers in Right-to-Work states experienced more direct competition with low-quality Chinese imports. Outside manufacturing, however, import competition causes an important increase in union membership as less-educated women shift away from retail and towards jobs in healthcare and education where unions are stronger. We calculate that Chinese imports prevented 26% of the union density decline that would have otherwise occurred.This archive includes all data and code needed to reproduce the figures and tables in the main text and appendicies.

Amid growing evidence of “unequal democracy” in the United States, labor unions can play a potentially important role by ensuring that low income citizens’ opinions receive more equal consideration when elected officials make policy decisions. To investigate this possibility, I evaluate the relationship between labor union strength and representational equality across the states and find evidence that states with higher levels of union membership weigh citizens’ opinions more equally in the policymaking process. In contrast, there is no relationship between the volume of labor union contributions to political campaigns in a state and the equality of political representation. These findings suggest that labor unions promote greater political equality primarily by mobilizing their working class members to political action and, more broadly, underscore the important role organized labor continues to play in shaping the distribution of political power across American society.

In 2023, union members accounted for 4.3 percent of wage and salary workers in Virginia, compared with 3.7 percent in 2022,the union membership rate for the state was at its peak in 1992, when it averaged 9.3 percent, and at its low point in 2007 and 2022 at 3.7 percent.Nationwide, union members accounted for 10.0 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2023. The rate was little changed from the previous year. Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, union membership rates in Virginia have been below the U.S. average union membership by at least 5 percentage points. Virginia had 176,000 union members in 2023. In addition to these members, another 50,000 wage and salary workers in Virginia were represented by a union on their main job or covered by an employee association or contract while not union members themselves.

Union membership has been on the decline across all industries in the United States since 2000. Union membership rates in the educational services industry increased between 2000 and 2024. In 2024, around **** percent of workers in the educational services industry were members of a union, compared with * percent of the American working population in the private sector.

This data is reflective of the State of Connecticut Executive Branch workforce only. The data does not reflect employees of the University of Connecticut Health Center, University of Connecticut and Board of Regents which includes the state university system and community colleges. Judicial Branch and Legislative Branch employees are also not reflected in this data.

This Gallup poll aims to collect the opinions of Canadians on issues of importance to the country and to the government. This survey focuses on mostly political topics, such as elections and voting, and the influence of the United States over Canada. Respondents were also asked questions so that they could be grouped according to geographic, demographic, and social variables. Topics of interest include: American investment in Canada, the American lifestyle; Canada's dependence on the United States, the federal election; financial dependence on the United States; government policy; how hard people work; religious services; Sunday school; union membership; and voting behaviour. Basic demographics variables are also included.

The rate of union membership in the United States has been on the decline since 2000 across all races and ethnicities. The Black and African American working population has maintained the highest rates of union membership. Between 2023 and 2024, Asian workers saw the largest increase in the rate of union membership, increasing from *** percent to *** percent. The total number of union members in the United States can be found here.

This Gallup poll seeks the opinions on Canadians on several leading topics of the day. Some of the major subjects of discussion include labour unions, problems facing the country, political issues, and opinions toward trade and investment with other countries, specifically the United States. The respondents were also asked questions so that they could be grouped according to geographic, demographic, and social variables. Topics of interest include: American investment in Canada; brand name recognition; Communist China in the United Nations; criticisms of labour unions; defence policy; federal elections; high income taxes; high prices; preferred political parties; priorities of labour unions; problems facing Canada; railway workers strike; trade with the United States; union membership; and voting behaviour. Basic demographics variables are also included.

Credit unions have experienced growth in recent years, stemming from increased membership and elevated interest rates throughout the period. The industry has experienced improving macroeconomic conditions since 2020 and credit unions have benefited from increased consumer borrowing. However, at the onset of the period, the industry was negatively impacted by economic volatility. Economic uncertainty led consumers to limit spending, while interest rates declined because the Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds Rate to the zero-bound range to address pandemic-induced liquidity. However, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in an attempt to curb inflation in 2022, industry revenue benefited. The industry experienced greater interest income, driving revenue and elevating profit although loan volumes were limited. However, in the latter part of the period the Fed slashed interest rates as inflationary pressures eased, hindering interest income but boosting loan demand volumes. As a result, revenue increased at a slower rate in the latter part of the period and profit was hindered. Overall, revenue swelled at a CAGR of 7.7% to $147.4 billion over the past five years, including a 1.6% jump in 2025 alone. Industry profit has lagged and comprises 10.1% of revenue in the same year. Changes in the regulatory environment have and will continue to shape the direction of this industry. Greater demand for credit unions increases their systemic importance to the overall economy. These intermediaries are federally insured, so any liquidity crisis requiring federal intervention would burden taxpayers. Legislation dictating stricter capital requirements passed under the National Credit Union Association's Risk-Based Capital Final Rule despite lobbying and opposition. Despite an intensified regulatory landscape, industry revenue is expected to expand at a CAGR of 0.8% to $153.2 billion over the five years to 2030. Consumer borrowing activity is expected to mount and the industry is also likely to endure greater competition from commercial banks, as their improving customer satisfaction threatens credit union membership. Despite this challenge, credit unions are expected to continue to receive strong demand for mortgages as the rate of a 30-year conventional mortgage is expected to decline over the next five years.

For the sake of objectivity I would like to provide a disclaimer that I personally lean pro-union, so am biased in this analysis. However, I do hope to provide a good basis in favor of my stance with this dataset and analysis.

"Right to Work" (RTW) describes laws in state that require unions to represent people in a unionized workplace who are not members of the union. While this description alongside the name "Right to Work" may sound innocent, this dataset intends to compare certain statistics between RTW and non-RTW states. Namely, union membership, poverty rate, and median household income.

Source for cover photo: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/us/indiana-becomes-right-to-work-state.html

Abstract (en): This data collection supplies standard monthly labor force data for the week prior to the survey. Comprehensive information is given on the employment status, occupation, and industry of persons 14 years old and older. Additional data are available concerning weeks worked and hours per week worked, reason not working full-time, total income and income components, and residence. Besides the CPS core questions, this survey gathered additional data on respondents' premium pay, number of days and hours per week usually worked, whether they worked a shift or flextime schedule, time of day that workers started and ended work, and union membership status. Supplemental questions on multiple job holding were asked of one-fourth of sample households. Questions asked of dual job-holders include the reason for working at a second job, the number of hours worked at this job, and whether they were on layoff from their primary job. Statistics on adult education participation by persons aged 16 years and older are also provided. For each course taken, data are included on subject area, reason for taking the course, amount paid for the course, and source of payment. Information on demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, race, marital status, veteran status, household relationship, educational level, and Hispanic origin, is available for each person in the household enumerated. All persons in the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States living in housing units. A national probability sample was used in selecting housing units. Approximately 77,000 households were sampled.