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Union membership rate 10.0 percent in 2025

April 24, 2026

The union membership rate (the percentage of wage and salary workers who were members of unions) was 10.0 percent in 2025, little changed from the prior year.

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Chart Data

Percent of employed who were members of unions, wage and salary workers, private industry and government, 2000–2025
Year	All industries	Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	Construction	Manufacturing	Wholesale and retail trade	Transportation and utilities	Information
2000	13.4	11.3	17.5	14.9	5.9	26.0	14.7
2001	13.3	11.5	16.9	14.7	6.0	25.3	14.1
2002	13.3	8.7	16.7	14.6	5.9	24.7	14.6
2003	12.9	9.1	16.0	13.5	6.2	26.2	13.6
2004	12.5	11.4	14.7	12.9	5.5	24.9	14.2
2005	12.5	8.0	13.1	13.0	5.4	24.0	13.6
2006	12.0	7.5	13.0	11.7	5.0	23.2	12.0
2007	12.1	9.3	13.9	11.3	5.2	22.1	12.1
2008	12.4	6.9	15.6	11.4	5.2	22.2	12.7
2009	12.3	8.6	14.5	10.9	5.3	22.2	10.0
2010	11.9	8.0	13.1	10.7	4.8	21.8	9.6
2011	11.8	7.2	14.0	10.5	4.8	21.1	10.1
2012	11.3	7.2	13.2	9.6	4.7	20.6	9.7
2013	11.3	5.4	14.1	10.1	4.7	20.6	8.9
2014	11.1	4.8	13.9	9.7	4.2	20.1	8.6
2015	11.1	5.4	13.2	9.4	4.6	19.3	8.6
2016	10.7	5.6	13.9	8.8	4.2	18.9	9.0
2017	10.7	4.4	14.0	9.1	4.5	18.3	9.8
2018	10.5	4.7	12.8	9.0	4.3	17.3	9.6
2019	10.3	4.0	12.6	8.6	4.1	17.3	10.3
2020	10.8	5.6	12.7	8.5	4.5	17.6	9.3
2021	10.3	5.7	12.6	7.7	4.3	15.4	10.0
2022	10.1	6.5	11.7	7.8	4.2	15.2	8.4
2023	10.0	4.3	10.7	7.9	3.9	16.5	7.4
2024	9.9	6.6	10.3	7.8	4.1	16.2	6.6
2025	10.0	4.7	11.1	7.7	4.3	14.3	6.6
Note: Annual estimates for 2025 were 11-month averages that exclude October. Data for October 2025 were not collected due to the federal government shutdown.

Percent of employed who were members of unions, wage and salary workers, private industry and government, 2000–2025 (continued)
Year	Financial activities	Professional and business services	Education and health services	Leisure and hospitality	Other services	Government
2000	1.6	2.5	7.9	3.8	3.5	36.9
2001	2.3	3.1	8.3	3.6	3.7	36.8
2002	2.0	2.7	8.5	3.0	3.7	37.3
2003	2.1	2.3	8.0	2.8	3.3	37.2
2004	2.0	2.3	8.3	3.1	2.8	36.4
2005	2.3	2.7	8.3	3.1	3.2	36.5
2006	1.9	2.4	8.3	3.1	3.1	36.2
2007	2.0	2.4	8.8	2.8	2.9	35.9
2008	1.8	2.1	9.1	3.2	3.1	36.8
2009	1.8	2.3	8.6	3.1	2.9	37.4
2010	2.0	2.7	8.1	2.7	2.9	36.2
2011	1.6	2.1	8.6	2.7	3.4	37.0
2012	1.9	2.4	8.1	2.7	2.5	35.9
2013	2.0	2.4	8.3	2.7	3.0	35.3
2014	2.0	2.3	8.2	3.2	2.9	35.7
2015	2.4	2.5	8.7	3.1	3.0	35.2
2016	2.3	2.4	8.2	3.0	2.6	34.4
2017	2.4	2.3	8.1	2.9	2.8	34.4
2018	2.1	2.6	8.1	2.9	2.6	33.9
2019	1.9	2.2	8.0	2.9	2.8	33.6
2020	1.9	2.2	8.4	2.2	2.5	34.8
2021	2.3	2.2	7.9	2.2	3.1	33.9
2022	1.8	2.2	7.8	2.8	2.8	33.1
2023	1.7	2.3	8.1	2.9	3.0	32.5
2024	1.3	2.0	8.1	3.0	2.7	32.2
2025	1.5	2.1	8.2	3.0	3.5	32.9
Note: Annual estimates for 2025 are 11-month averages that exclude October. Data for October 2025 were not collected due to the federal government shutdown.

The union membership rate of public-sector (government) workers, 32.9 percent in 2025, continued to be more than five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers. The public-sector union membership rate increased by 0.7 percentage point over the year. The union membership rate continued to be highest in local government, which employs many workers in heavily unionized occupations.

The union membership rate in the private sector (5.9 percent across all industries) was unchanged over the year. Industries with some of the highest unionization rates in 2025 included transportation and utilities, 14.3 percent, and construction, 11.1 percent. Among the lowest unionization rates were financial activities, 1.5 percent, professional and business services, 2.1 percent, and leisure and hospitality (which includes food services and drinking places), 3.0 percent.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2025.” The union membership rate is calculated by dividing the number of union members by the number of wage and salary workers. Union membership data do not include self-employed workers.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Union membership rate 10.0 percent in 2025 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/union-membership-rate-10-0-percent-in-2025.htm (visited April 26, 2026).

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