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Weekly earnings of nonunion workers were 85 percent of union members’ earnings in 2024
February 27, 2025
Among full-time wage and salary workers, nonunion workers had usual median weekly earnings that were 85 percent of earnings for workers who were union members in 2024 ($1,138 compared with $1,337).
In addition to coverage by a collective bargaining agreement, these earnings differences reflect a variety of factors, including variations in the distributions of union members and nonunion employees by occupation, industry, age, firm size, or geographic region.
Usual median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by union affiliation in the private and public sectors, 2024
Type of worker
Union workers (in dollars)
Nonunion workers (in dollars)
Total
1,337
1,138
Private sector
1,258
1,131
Public sector
1,391
1,185
In the private sector, nonunion workers had median weekly earnings that were 90 percent of union members’ earnings ($1,131 versus $1,258). In the public sector, median weekly earnings for nonunion workers were 85 percent of union members’ earnings ($1,185 versus $1,391).
Union membership rates of employed wage and salary workers in percent by sector, 1983–2024
Year
Total
Private sector
Public sector
1983
20.1
16.8
36.7
1984
18.8
15.5
35.8
1985
18.0
14.6
35.8
1986
17.5
14.0
36.0
1987
17.0
13.4
36.0
1988
16.8
12.9
36.7
1989
16.4
12.4
36.7
1990
16.0
12.0
36.4
1991
16.0
11.8
36.7
1992
15.7
11.5
36.5
1993
15.7
11.2
37.5
1994
15.5
10.9
38.7
1995
14.9
10.4
37.8
1996
14.5
10.2
37.7
1997
14.1
9.8
37.2
1998
13.9
9.6
37.5
1999
13.9
9.5
37.3
2000
13.4
9.0
36.9
2001
13.3
8.9
36.8
2002
13.3
8.6
37.3
2003
12.9
8.2
37.2
2004
12.5
7.9
36.4
2005
12.5
7.8
36.5
2006
12.0
7.4
36.2
2007
12.1
7.5
35.9
2008
12.4
7.6
36.8
2009
12.3
7.2
37.4
2010
11.9
6.9
36.2
2011
11.8
6.9
37.0
2012
11.3
6.6
35.9
2013
11.3
6.7
35.3
2014
11.1
6.6
35.7
2015
11.1
6.7
35.2
2016
10.7
6.4
34.4
2017
10.7
6.5
34.4
2018
10.5
6.4
33.9
2019
10.3
6.2
33.6
2020
10.8
6.3
34.8
2021
10.3
6.1
33.9
2022
10.1
6.0
33.1
2023
10.0
6.0
32.5
2024
9.9
5.9
32.2
The union membership rate of public-sector workers (32.2 percent) continued to be more than five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers (5.9 percent) in 2024.
The private-sector union membership rate declined by 10.9 percentage points from 1983 to 2024. The membership rate in the public sector changed little from 1983 (36.7 percent) to 2011 (37.0 percent), and then generally trended down through 2024.
United States Department of Labor
