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16.2 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union in 2023
February 02, 2024
In 2023, 16.2 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union, little different than in 2022. The percentage of workers represented by a union was 11.2 percent in 2023, also little different than a year earlier. Workers represented by a union include both union members (14.4 million) and workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract (1.8 million).
Union membership of wage and salary workers, 2009 to 2023 annual averages
Year
Union member
Represented by a union
2009
15,327,000
16,904,000
2010
14,715,000
16,290,000
2011
14,764,000
16,290,000
2012
14,366,000
15,922,000
2013
14,528,000
16,028,000
2014
14,576,000
16,152,000
2015
14,795,000
16,441,000
2016
14,555,000
16,271,000
2017
14,817,000
16,444,000
2018
14,744,000
16,380,000
2019
14,574,000
16,383,000
2020
14,253,000
15,939,000
2021
14,012,000
15,802,000
2022
14,285,000
16,002,000
2023
14,424,000
16,193,000
Among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $1,263 in 2023, while nonunion workers had median usual weekly earnings of $1,090. In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, these earnings differences reflect a variety of influences, including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, age, firm size, or geographic region.
United States Department of Labor
