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Nonunion workers had weekly earnings 81 percent of union members in 2019

February 28, 2020

Among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $1,095 in 2019, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings of $892.

Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by union affiliation and other characteristics, 2019 annual averages
Characteristic Members of unions Nonunion

Total

$1,095 $892

Total men

1,147 986

Total women

1,018 792

White

1,127 917

White Men

1,181 1,012

White women

1,044 810

Black or African American

905 711

Black or African American men

948 746

Black or African American women

874 683

Asian

1,173 1,179

Asian men

1,151 1,357

Asian women

1,216 995

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

954 686

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, men

1,009 722

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, women

875 622

Note: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Data refer to the sole or principal job of full-time wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

In 2019, white union members had median usual weekly earnings of $1,127, compared to $917 for white nonunion workers. Black or African American union members had median usual weekly earnings of $905, compared to $711 for black nonunion workers. Asian union members had median usual weekly earnings of $1,173, about the same as the figure of $1,179 for Asian nonunion workers.

Union members of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity had median usual weekly earnings of $954, compared to $686 for nonunion workers of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. The comparisons of earnings are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be important in explaining earnings differences, including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, age, firm size, or geographic region. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2019.” Union membership data do not include self-employed workers.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonunion workers had weekly earnings 81 percent of union members in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/nonunion-workers-had-weekly-earnings-81-percent-of-union-members-in-2019.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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