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A look at union membership rates across industries in 2020
February 25, 2021
The union membership rate (the percentage of wage and salary workers who were members of unions) was 10.8 percent in 2020, up from 10.3 percent in 2019. In 2020, the union membership rate in the public sector increased by 1.2 percentage points to 34.8 percent, while the rate in the private sector increased by 0.1 percentage point to 6.3 percent.
The union membership rate increased even though the number of union members decreased (−321,000, or −2.2 percent) because there was a disproportionately large decrease in the total number of wage and salary workers (−6.7 percent).
Union membership rates by industry, 2000–20 (continued)
Year
Transportation and utilities
Transportation and warehousing
Utilities
Information
Publishing, except Internet
Motion pictures and sound recording industries
Radio and television broadcasting and cable subscription programming
Telecommunications
2000
26.0%
25.7%
27.2%
14.7%
8.0%
17.1%
8.8%
23.8%
2001
25.3
25.0
26.7
14.1
6.9
12.2
7.2
23.7
2002
24.7
24.6
25.4
14.6
9.0
14.3
7.6
23.1
2003
26.2
25.8
28.2
13.6
7.4
12.0
9.2
21.0
2004
24.9
24.2
28.4
14.2
6.7
15.7
9.3
22.4
2005
24.0
23.4
27.4
13.6
8.8
15.0
8.6
21.4
2006
23.2
22.2
28.2
12.0
7.0
10.3
5.9
20.7
2007
22.1
20.9
28.4
12.1
7.3
11.5
8.7
19.7
2008
22.2
21.3
26.9
12.7
7.2
11.4
9.5
19.3
2009
22.2
21.3
26.1
10.0
5.3
12.8
4.7
16.0
2010
21.8
20.5
28.3
9.6
5.0
9.3
5.1
15.8
2011
21.1
20.4
25.0
10.1
4.5
13.8
5.9
15.6
2012
20.6
19.9
24.7
9.7
3.7
11.4
6.7
15.6
2013
20.6
19.6
25.6
8.9
4.7
9.5
5.5
14.4
2014
20.1
19.6
22.3
8.6
3.6
7.3
7.0
14.8
2015
19.3
18.9
21.4
8.6
3.9
11.7
6.7
13.3
2016
18.9
18.4
21.5
9.0
4.9
11.0
5.9
14.6
2017
18.3
17.3
23.0
9.8
3.6
11.4
7.8
16.1
2018
17.3
16.7
20.1
9.6
3.9
12.5
7.7
15.4
2019
17.3
16.1
23.4
10.3
3.3
13.6
11.0
14.1
2020
17.6
17.0
20.6
9.3
2.4
14.0
7.6
14.3
Union membership rates by industry, 2000–20 (continued)
Year
Financial activities
Finance and insurance
Finance
Insurance
Real estate and rental and leasing
Professional and business services
Professional and technical services
Management, administrative, and waste services
Education and health services
Educational services
2000
1.6%
1.1%
0.8%
1.6%
3.3%
2.5%
1.1%
4.7%
7.9%
11.5%
2001
2.3
1.6
1.5
1.8
4.3
3.1
1.8
5.1
8.3
13.2
2002
2.0
1.5
1.3
1.8
3.5
2.7
1.5
4.4
8.5
13.7
2003
2.1
1.6
1.5
1.6
3.7
2.3
1.4
3.5
8.0
12.1
2004
2.0
1.5
1.4
1.8
3.5
2.3
1.1
3.9
8.3
13.0
2005
2.3
1.6
1.4
2.0
4.0
2.7
1.5
4.3
8.3
13.1
2006
1.9
1.4
1.2
1.8
3.3
2.4
1.4
3.8
8.3
13.5
2007
2.0
1.5
1.3
2.0
3.2
2.4
1.4
3.8
8.8
12.6
2008
1.8
1.3
1.0
1.9
3.3
2.1
1.3
3.4
9.1
13.8
2009
1.8
1.4
1.4
1.5
3.0
2.3
1.1
4.0
8.6
12.9
2010
2.0
1.3
1.1
1.6
4.1
2.7
1.4
4.6
8.1
13.0
2011
1.6
1.1
1.0
1.2
3.4
2.1
1.2
3.3
8.6
13.0
2012
1.9
1.2
1.1
1.3
4.1
2.4
1.2
4.3
8.1
12.4
2013
2.0
1.3
1.0
2.0
4.0
2.4
1.5
3.6
8.3
12.9
2014
2.0
1.4
1.3
1.6
3.7
2.3
1.4
3.8
8.2
11.7
2015
2.4
1.6
1.3
2.1
4.7
2.5
1.7
3.8
8.7
13.7
2016
2.3
1.4
1.2
1.7
4.9
2.4
1.6
3.7
8.2
12.3
2017
2.4
1.5
1.1
2.1
5.0
2.3
1.7
3.2
8.1
11.4
2018
2.1
1.5
1.3
1.7
3.9
2.6
1.5
4.4
8.1
13.1
2019
1.9
1.2
1.1
1.4
4.0
2.2
1.4
3.6
8.0
12.3
2020
1.9
1.4
1.2
1.7
3.5
2.2
1.3
4.0
8.4
13.5
Union membership rates by industry, 2000–20 (continued)
Year
Health care and social assistance
Leisure and hospitality
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
Accommodation and food services
Accommodation
Food services and drinking places
Other services
Public sector
Federal government
State government
Local government
2000
7.1%
3.8%
6.9%
3.2%
10.3%
1.6%
3.5%
36.9%
31.5%
29.7%
42.4%
2001
7.1
3.6
6.4
3.0
8.9
1.7
3.7
36.8
31.5
30.5
41.9
2002
7.3
3.0
6.4
2.3
7.6
1.2
3.7
37.3
32.2
31.0
42.3
2003
7.0
2.8
5.4
2.2
8.3
1.0
3.3
37.2
30.9
30.3
42.6
2004
7.2
3.1
6.4
2.4
8.2
1.2
2.8
36.4
29.9
30.7
41.3
2005
7.1
3.1
6.3
2.4
8.3
1.3
3.2
36.5
27.8
31.3
41.9
2006
7.0
3.1
6.3
2.4
9.2
1.1
3.1
36.2
28.4
30.2
41.9
2007
7.9
2.8
6.2
2.0
7.7
0.9
2.9
35.9
26.8
30.4
41.8
2008
8.0
3.2
6.4
2.5
7.9
1.5
3.1
36.8
28.1
31.6
42.2
2009
7.5
3.1
6.4
2.3
7.8
1.3
2.9
37.4
28.0
32.2
43.3
2010
6.9
2.7
5.3
2.1
7.9
1.1
2.9
36.2
26.8
31.1
42.3
2011
7.5
2.7
5.3
2.1
7.1
1.2
3.4
37.0
28.1
31.5
43.2
2012
7.0
2.7
6.4
1.9
6.5
1.2
2.5
35.9
26.9
31.3
41.7
2013
7.2
2.7
5.2
2.1
7.0
1.3
3.0
35.3
26.5
30.9
40.8
2014
7.3
3.2
6.5
2.5
8.9
1.4
2.9
35.7
27.5
29.8
41.9
2015
7.3
3.1
6.4
2.4
7.4
1.5
3.0
35.2
27.3
30.2
41.3
2016
7.1
3.0
5.4
2.5
7.6
1.6
2.6
34.4
27.4
29.6
40.3
2017
7.2
2.9
5.9
2.2
7.3
1.4
2.8
34.4
26.6
30.3
40.1
2018
6.7
2.9
5.7
2.3
8.3
1.3
2.6
33.9
26.4
28.6
40.3
2019
6.8
2.9
6.6
2.1
6.5
1.4
2.8
33.6
25.6
29.4
39.4
2020
7.1
2.2
4.8
1.6
5.7
1.2
2.5
34.8
26.0
29.9
41.7
Among the private-sector industries, union membership rates were highest in transportation and utilities (17.6 percent), construction (12.7 percent), and information (9.3 percent). Union membership rates were lowest in financial activities (1.9 percent), leisure and hospitality (2.2 percent), and professional and business services (2.2 percent).
In the leisure and hospitality industry, the union membership rate was 1.2 percent in food services and drinking places; 4.8 percent in arts, entertainment, and recreation; and 5.7 percent in accommodation.
Within the public sector, the union membership rate was highest in local government (41.7 percent), which employs many workers in heavily unionized occupations, such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers.
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.
United States Department of Labor
