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The union membership rate—the percentage of wage and salary workers who are members of unions—was 10.7 percent in 2016, down 0.4 percentage point from 2015. In 1983, the first year for which comparable data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent.
Percentage of wage and salary workers who were members of unions, total and private sector, 1983–2016
Year
Total, all wage and salary workers
Private-sector workers
1983
20.1%
16.8%
1984
18.8
15.5
1985
18.0
14.6
1986
17.5
14.0
1987
17.0
13.4
1988
16.8
12.9
1989
16.4
12.4
1990
16.0
12.0
1991
16.0
11.8
1992
15.7
11.5
1993
15.7
11.2
1994
15.5
10.9
1995
14.9
10.4
1996
14.5
10.2
1997
14.1
9.8
1998
13.9
9.6
1999
13.9
9.5
2000
13.4
9.0
2001
13.3
8.9
2002
13.3
8.6
2003
12.9
8.2
2004
12.5
7.9
2005
12.5
7.8
2006
12.0
7.4
2007
12.1
7.5
2008
12.4
7.6
2009
12.3
7.2
2010
11.9
6.9
2011
11.8
6.9
2012
11.3
6.6
2013
11.3
6.7
2014
11.1
6.6
2015
11.1
6.7
2016
10.7
6.4
In 2016, the union membership rate for public-sector workers (34.4 percent) was more than 5 times greater than the rate for private-sector workers (6.4 percent). The union membership rate continued to be slightly higher for men (11.2 percent) than for women (10.2 percent) in 2016. Among major race and ethnicity groups, Black workers continued to have a higher union membership rate in 2016 (13.0 percent) than workers who were White (10.5 percent), Asian (9.0 percent), or Hispanic (8.8 percent).
Percentage of wage and salary workers who were union members by selected characteristics, 2016
Characteristic
Union membership rate
Public sector
34.4%
Private sector
6.4
Men
11.2
Women
10.2
Black
13.0
White
10.5
Asian
9.0
Hispanic
8.8
These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2016” (HTML) (PDF). Union membership data do not include self-employed workers.
United States Department of Labor
