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In 2020, 30 states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below that of the U.S. average, 10.8 percent, while 20 states had rates above it. All states in both the East South Central and West South Central divisions had union membership rates below the national average, while all states in both the Middle Atlantic and Pacific divisions had rates above it.
State | Percent | Total |
---|---|---|
Alabama |
8.0% | 151,000 |
Alaska |
17.7 | 49,000 |
Arizona |
5.3 | 155,000 |
Arkansas |
4.7 | 55,000 |
California |
16.2 | 2,441,000 |
Colorado |
7.4 | 182,000 |
Connecticut |
17.1 | 262,000 |
Delaware |
9.7 | 41,000 |
District of Columbia |
8.6 | 30,000 |
Florida |
6.4 | 524,000 |
Georgia |
4.6 | 194,000 |
Hawaii |
23.7 | 120,000 |
Idaho |
5.6 | 41,000 |
Illinois |
14.3 | 739,000 |
Indiana |
8.3 | 235,000 |
Iowa |
6.6 | 93,000 |
Kansas |
8.9 | 114,000 |
Kentucky |
7.5 | 127,000 |
Louisiana |
5.9 | 99,000 |
Maine |
14.7 | 82,000 |
Maryland |
13.1 | 351,000 |
Massachusetts |
12.0 | 357,000 |
Michigan |
15.2 | 604,000 |
Minnesota |
15.8 | 398,000 |
Mississippi |
7.1 | 74,000 |
Missouri |
9.4 | 238,000 |
Montana |
12.0 | 50,000 |
Nebraska |
9.6 | 85,000 |
Nevada |
13.4 | 161,000 |
New Hampshire |
9.8 | 62,000 |
New Jersey |
16.1 | 600,000 |
New Mexico |
7.1 | 53,000 |
New York |
22.0 | 1,661,000 |
North Carolina |
3.1 | 129,000 |
North Dakota |
6.2 | 21,000 |
Ohio |
13.2 | 637,000 |
Oklahoma |
6.0 | 90,000 |
Oregon |
16.2 | 275,000 |
Pennsylvania |
13.5 | 717,000 |
Rhode Island |
17.8 | 81,000 |
South Carolina |
2.9 | 59,000 |
South Dakota |
4.3 | 17,000 |
Tennessee |
4.4 | 117,000 |
Texas |
4.9 | 563,000 |
Utah |
3.7 | 51,000 |
Vermont |
11.8 | 31,000 |
Virginia |
4.4 | 164,000 |
Washington |
17.4 | 557,000 |
West Virginia |
10.7 | 71,000 |
Wisconsin |
8.7 | 227,000 |
Wyoming |
7.6 | 18,000 |
Nine states had union membership rates below 5.0 percent in 2020. South Carolina had the lowest rate (2.9 percent). The next lowest rates were in North Carolina and Utah (3.1 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively). Two states had union membership rates over 20.0 percent in 2020: Hawaii (23.7 percent) and New York (22.0 percent).
Over half of the 14.3 million union members in the United States. lived in just seven states (California, 2.4 million; New York, 1.7 million; Illinois and Pennsylvania, 0.7 million each; and Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, 0.6 million each). However, these states accounted for about one-third of wage and salary employment nationally.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see “Union Members — 2020.” 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.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Union membership rates highest in Hawaii, lowest in South Carolina, in 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/union-membership-rates-highest-in-hawaii-lowest-in-south-carolina-in-2020.htm (visited October 31, 2024).