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UNION MEMBERSHIP

percent of employed wage and salary workers who are union members · 1983–2025 · neither direction is "better" · BLS Current Population Survey (series LUU0204899600)
10.0%
2025 (latest)
20.1%
1983
20.1%
high · 1983
9.9%
low · 2024
−10 pts
since 1983
11.6%14.7%17.8%20.9%198519901995200020052010201520202025 Black Monday crash (1987)’87Gulf War recession (1991)’91Dot-com bust & 9/11 (2001)’01Global financial crisis (2008)’08COVID-19 pandemic (2020)’20
┊ dashed lines mark 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. Union members as a percent of employed wage and salary workers aged 16+, annual averages from the CPS. BLS's consistent series begins in 1983; earlier figures came from a different survey and are not spliced in.
Sources

Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:

Data
YearUnion MembershipChange
202510.0%+0.1 pts
20249.9%−0.1 pts
202310.0%−0.1 pts
202210.1%−0.2 pts
202110.3%−0.5 pts
202010.8%+0.5 pts
201910.3%−0.2 pts
201810.5%−0.2 pts
201710.7%+0.0 pts
201610.7%−0.4 pts
201511.1%+0.0 pts
201411.1%−0.2 pts
201311.3%+0.0 pts
201211.3%−0.5 pts
201111.8%−0.1 pts
201011.9%−0.4 pts
200912.3%−0.1 pts
200812.4%+0.3 pts
200712.1%+0.1 pts
200612.0%−0.5 pts
200512.5%+0.0 pts
200412.5%−0.4 pts
200312.9%−0.4 pts
200213.3%+0.0 pts
200113.3%−0.1 pts
200013.4%−0.5 pts
199913.9%+0.0 pts
199813.9%−0.2 pts
199714.1%−0.4 pts
199614.5%−0.4 pts
199514.9%−0.6 pts
199415.5%−0.2 pts
199315.7%+0.0 pts
199215.7%−0.3 pts
199116.0%+0.0 pts
199016.0%−0.4 pts
198916.4%−0.4 pts
198816.8%−0.2 pts
198717.0%−0.5 pts
198617.5%−0.5 pts
198518.0%−0.8 pts
198418.8%−1.3 pts
198320.1%
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