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Utilities industry has highest union membership rate in private sector in 2017
February 23, 2018
The union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—was 10.7 percent in 2017, the same as in 2016. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.8 million in 2017, edged up by 262,000 from 2016. The union membership rate of public-sector workers, 34.4 percent in 2017, continued to be more than five times higher than that of private-sector workers (6.5 percent).
Union membership rates of employed wage and salary workers by industry, 2000–17 annual averages
Year
All industries
Private sector
Agriculture and related industries
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Construction
Manufacturing
Wholesale trade
Retail trade
Transportation and warehousing
2000
13.4%
9.0%
2.6%
11.3%
17.5%
14.9%
5.3%
6.1%
25.7%
2001
13.3
8.9
2.8
11.5
16.9
14.7
5.6
6.0
25.0
2002
13.3
8.6
2.8
8.7
16.7
14.6
5.0
6.1
24.6
2003
12.9
8.2
1.6
9.1
16.0
13.5
5.1
6.4
25.8
2004
12.5
7.9
2.2
11.4
14.7
12.9
4.6
5.7
24.2
2005
12.5
7.8
2.7
8.0
13.1
13.0
5.9
5.2
23.4
2006
12.0
7.4
2.3
7.5
13.0
11.7
4.9
5.0
22.2
2007
12.1
7.5
1.5
9.3
13.9
11.3
5.2
5.3
20.9
2008
12.4
7.6
2.8
6.9
15.6
11.4
5.3
5.2
21.3
2009
12.3
7.2
1.1
8.6
14.5
10.9
4.9
5.3
21.3
2010
11.9
6.9
1.6
8.0
13.1
10.7
5.2
4.7
20.5
2011
11.8
6.9
1.4
7.2
14.0
10.5
4.4
4.9
20.4
2012
11.3
6.6
1.4
7.2
13.2
9.6
5.1
4.6
19.9
2013
11.3
6.7
1.0
5.4
14.1
10.1
5.0
4.6
19.6
2014
11.1
6.6
1.1
4.8
13.9
9.7
3.3
4.4
19.6
2015
11.1
6.7
1.2
5.4
13.2
9.4
3.8
4.8
18.9
2016
10.7
6.4
1.3
5.6
13.9
8.8
3.7
4.3
18.4
2017
10.7
6.5
2.1
4.4
14.0
9.1
4.5
4.5
17.3
Union membership rates of employed wage and salary workers by industry, 2000–17 annual averages (continued)
Year
Utilities
Information
Financial activities
Professional and business services
Education and health services
Leisure and hospitality
Other services
Government
2000
27.2%
14.7%
1.6%
2.5%
7.9%
3.8%
3.5%
36.9%
2001
26.7
14.1
2.3
3.1
8.3
3.6
3.7
36.8
2002
25.4
14.6
2.0
2.7
8.5
3.0
3.7
37.3
2003
28.2
13.6
2.1
2.3
8.0
2.8
3.3
37.2
2004
28.4
14.2
2.0
2.3
8.3
3.1
2.8
36.4
2005
27.4
13.6
2.3
2.7
8.3
3.1
3.2
36.5
2006
28.2
12.0
1.9
2.4
8.3
3.1
3.1
36.2
2007
28.4
12.1
2.0
2.4
8.8
2.8
2.9
35.9
2008
26.9
12.7
1.8
2.1
9.1
3.2
3.1
36.8
2009
26.1
10.0
1.8
2.3
8.6
3.1
2.9
37.4
2010
28.3
9.6
2.0
2.7
8.1
2.7
2.9
36.2
2011
25.0
10.1
1.6
2.1
8.6
2.7
3.4
37.0
2012
24.7
9.7
1.9
2.4
8.1
2.7
2.5
35.9
2013
25.6
8.9
2.0
2.4
8.3
2.7
3.0
35.3
2014
22.3
8.6
2.0
2.3
8.2
3.2
2.9
35.7
2015
21.4
8.6
2.4
2.5
8.7
3.1
3.0
35.2
2016
21.5
9.0
2.3
2.4
8.2
3.0
2.6
34.4
2017
23.0
9.8
2.4
2.3
8.1
2.9
2.8
34.4
Private-sector industries with high union membership rates in 2017 include utilities (23.0 percent), transportation and warehousing (17.3 percent), and construction (14.0 percent). Industries with low union membership rates include agriculture (2.1 percent), professional and business services (2.3 percent), and financial activities (2.4 percent).
These data are from the Current Population Survey. To learn more, see "Union Members — 2017" (HTML) (PDF). The numbers exclude all self-employed workers.
United States Department of Labor
