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The union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—was 10.5 percent in 2018, down by 0.2 percentage point from 2017. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, 14.7 million in 2018, was about the same as in 2017. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent and there were 17.7 million union workers.
Year | Total | Men | Women | White, total | Black or African American, total | Asian, total | Hispanic or Latino, total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 |
20.1% | 24.7% | 14.6% | 19.3% | 27.2% | - | 21.1% |
1984 |
18.8 | 23.0 | 13.8 | 18.0 | 25.9 | - | 20.3 |
1985 |
18.0 | 22.1 | 13.2 | 17.3 | 24.3 | - | 18.9 |
1986 |
17.5 | 21.5 | 12.9 | 16.8 | 23.5 | - | 17.8 |
1987 |
17.0 | 20.9 | 12.6 | 16.3 | 22.6 | - | 17.1 |
1988 |
16.8 | 20.4 | 12.6 | 16.0 | 22.9 | - | 16.0 |
1989 |
16.4 | 19.7 | 12.6 | 15.7 | 22.2 | - | 15.2 |
1990 |
16.0 | 19.1 | 12.5 | 15.4 | 21.0 | - | 14.4 |
1991 |
16.0 | 19.2 | 12.5 | 15.3 | 21.3 | - | 15.3 |
1992 |
15.7 | 18.5 | 12.6 | 15.0 | 21.2 | - | 14.6 |
1993 |
15.7 | 18.2 | 12.9 | 15.1 | 20.8 | - | 14.8 |
1994 |
15.5 | 17.9 | 12.9 | 14.8 | 20.6 | - | 14.2 |
1995 |
14.9 | 17.2 | 12.3 | 14.2 | 19.9 | - | 13.0 |
1996 |
14.5 | 16.9 | 12.0 | 14.0 | 18.9 | - | 12.9 |
1997 |
14.1 | 16.3 | 11.6 | 13.6 | 17.9 | - | 11.8 |
1998 |
13.9 | 16.2 | 11.4 | 13.5 | 17.7 | - | 11.9 |
1999 |
13.9 | 16.1 | 11.4 | 13.5 | 17.2 | - | 11.9 |
2000 |
13.4 | 15.2 | 11.4 | 13.0 | 17.2 | 11.5 | 11.1 |
2001 |
13.3 | 15.0 | 11.6 | 13.0 | 16.7 | 11.3 | 11.2 |
2002 |
13.3 | 14.7 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 16.9 | 11.6 | 10.6 |
2003 |
12.9 | 14.3 | 11.4 | 12.5 | 16.5 | 11.4 | 10.7 |
2004 |
12.5 | 13.8 | 11.1 | 12.2 | 15.1 | 11.4 | 10.1 |
2005 |
12.5 | 13.5 | 11.3 | 12.2 | 15.1 | 11.2 | 10.4 |
2006 |
12.0 | 13.0 | 10.9 | 11.7 | 14.5 | 10.4 | 9.8 |
2007 |
12.1 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 14.3 | 10.9 | 9.8 |
2008 |
12.4 | 13.4 | 11.4 | 12.2 | 14.5 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
2009 |
12.3 | 13.3 | 11.3 | 12.1 | 13.9 | 11.4 | 10.2 |
2010 |
11.9 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 11.7 | 13.4 | 10.9 | 10.0 |
2011 |
11.8 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 11.6 | 13.5 | 10.1 | 9.7 |
2012 |
11.3 | 12.0 | 10.5 | 11.1 | 13.4 | 9.6 | 9.8 |
2013 |
11.3 | 11.9 | 10.5 | 11.0 | 13.6 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
2014 |
11.1 | 11.7 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 13.2 | 10.4 | 9.2 |
2015 |
11.1 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 10.8 | 13.6 | 9.8 | 9.4 |
2016 |
10.7 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 13.0 | 9.0 | 8.8 |
2017 |
10.7 | 11.4 | 10.0 | 10.6 | 12.6 | 8.9 | 9.3 |
2018 |
10.5 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 10.4 | 12.5 | 8.4 | 9.1 |
Note: Dash means data are not available. |
In 2018, the union membership rate continued to be higher for men (11.1 percent) than for women (9.9 percent). The gap between their rates has narrowed considerably since 1983, when the rate for men was 24.7 percent and the rate for women was 14.6 percent.
Black workers continued to have a higher union membership rate in 2018 (12.5 percent) than workers who were White (10.4 percent), Asian (8.4 percent), or Hispanic (9.1 percent).
These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2018.” The numbers exclude all self-employed workers. People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Union membership rate 10.5 percent in 2018, down from 20.1 percent in 1983 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/union-membership-rate-10-point-5-percent-in-2018-down-from-20-point-1-percent-in-1983.htm (visited October 10, 2024).