Table 1: Union membership and union coverage, 12-months ending December, 2019 to 2025
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Change
								2025-2024	2025-2019
Coverage (%)
All	11.6%	12.1%	11.6%	11.3%	11.2%	11.1%	11.2%	0.2	−0.3
Private sector	7.1%	7.2%	7.0%	6.8%	6.8%	6.7%	6.8%	0.1	−0.3
Public sector	37.2%	38.4%	37.6%	36.8%	36.0%	35.7%	36.4%	0.6	−0.8
Federal	30.5%	30.0%	29.1%	28.2%	29.0%	29.9%	31.1%	1.2	0.6
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	23.4%	23.0%	22.1%	21.4%	22.8%	23.2%	22.9%	−0.4	−0.5
U.S. Postal Service	65.6%	67.1%	64.1%	64.5%	64.3%	67.7%	71.9%	4.2	6.3
State and local	38.7%	40.3%	39.5%	38.7%	37.6%	37.1%	37.6%	0.5	−1.1
State	32.3%	33.7%	33.1%	33.2%	32.0%	31.4%	32.7%	1.3	0.4
Local	43.0%	45.1%	43.9%	42.7%	41.8%	41.4%	41.4%	0.0	−1.6
Membership (%)
All	10.3%	10.8%	10.3%	10.1%	10.0%	9.9%	10.0%	0.1	−0.3
Private sector	6.2%	6.3%	6.1%	6.0%	6.0%	5.9%	5.9%	0.0	−0.3
Public sector	33.6%	34.8%	33.9%	33.2%	32.5%	32.2%	32.9%	0.8	−0.7
Federal	25.6%	26.0%	24.9%	24.4%	25.1%	25.3%	27.2%	1.8	1.5
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	18.6%	19.3%	18.2%	17.5%	18.9%	18.5%	18.9%	0.4	0.3
U.S. Postal Service	60.7%	62.2%	58.8%	61.3%	59.9%	63.9%	68.3%	4.4	7.6
State and local	35.3%	36.8%	35.9%	35.2%	34.2%	33.8%	34.3%	0.5	−1.1
State	29.4%	29.9%	29.6%	30.0%	28.6%	27.9%	29.6%	1.8	0.3
Local	39.4%	41.8%	40.2%	38.8%	38.4%	38.2%	37.8%	−0.3	−1.6
Coverage
All	16,375,000	15,936,000	15,795,000	15,996,000	16,186,000	16,015,000	16,478,000	463,000	103,000
Private sector	8,562,000	8,021,000	8,050,000	8,164,000	8,424,000	8,215,000	8,440,000	225,000	−122,000
Public sector	7,813,000	7,915,000	7,745,000	7,832,000	7,763,000	7,800,000	8,039,000	239,000	226,000
Federal	1,156,000	1,165,000	1,109,000	1,123,000	1,193,000	1,247,000	1,284,000	36,000	128,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	738,000	756,000	705,000	719,000	795,000	824,000	787,000	−37,000	48,000
U.S. Postal Service	417,000	409,000	403,000	404,000	398,000	424,000	497,000	73,000	80,000
State and local	6,657,000	6,750,000	6,637,000	6,710,000	6,569,000	6,552,000	6,755,000	202,000	98,000
State	2,249,000	2,347,000	2,272,000	2,373,000	2,375,000	2,361,000	2,544,000	183,000	295,000
Local	4,409,000	4,403,000	4,364,000	4,337,000	4,194,000	4,191,000	4,211,000	20,000	−198,000
Membership
All	14,567,000	14,250,000	14,004,000	14,280,000	14,415,000	14,245,000	14,657,000	411,000	90,000
Private sector	7,508,000	7,082,000	7,026,000	7,219,000	7,408,000	7,229,000	7,381,000	152,000	−127,000
Public sector	7,059,000	7,168,000	6,978,000	7,061,000	7,007,000	7,017,000	7,276,000	260,000	218,000
Federal	972,000	1,012,000	950,000	970,000	1,032,000	1,056,000	1,121,000	66,000	149,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	586,000	634,000	581,000	587,000	661,000	656,000	649,000	−7,000	64,000
U.S. Postal Service	386,000	379,000	370,000	384,000	371,000	399,000	472,000	73,000	86,000
State and local	6,087,000	6,156,000	6,027,000	6,091,000	5,975,000	5,961,000	6,155,000	194,000	68,000
State	2,043,000	2,083,000	2,032,000	2,144,000	2,121,000	2,094,000	2,304,000	211,000	262,000
Local	4,044,000	4,073,000	3,996,000	3,947,000	3,855,000	3,867,000	3,851,000	−17,000	−194,000
Total employment
All	141,766,000	132,205,000	136,421,000	141,698,000	144,567,000	144,543,000	146,687,000	2,144,000	4,920,000
Private sector	120,755,000	111,587,000	115,807,000	120,400,000	122,994,000	122,722,000	124,598,000	1,875,000	3,842,000
Public sector	21,011,000	20,618,000	20,613,000	21,298,000	21,573,000	21,821,000	22,089,000	268,000	1,078,000
Federal	3,792,000	3,888,000	3,814,000	3,982,000	4,109,000	4,169,000	4,128,000	−41,000	335,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	3,156,000	3,279,000	3,185,000	3,356,000	3,490,000	3,543,000	3,436,000	−107,000	280,000
U.S. Postal Service	636,000	609,000	629,000	626,000	619,000	626,000	691,000	66,000	55,000
State and local	17,219,000	16,730,000	16,799,000	17,317,000	17,464,000	17,652,000	17,962,000	310,000	742,000
State	6,956,000	6,975,000	6,862,000	7,156,000	7,419,000	7,517,000	7,781,000	264,000	825,000
Local	10,263,000	9,754,000	9,937,000	10,161,000	10,045,000	10,135,000	10,181,000	46,000	−83,000
Sample size
All	154,727	133,671	134,177	129,714	125,755	125,586	109,539
Private sector	129,865	111,050	112,246	108,688	105,475	105,239	91,710
Public sector	24,862	22,621	21,931	21,026	20,280	20,347	17,829
Federal	4,812	4,703	4,478	4,367	4,224	4,269	3,564
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	4,093	4,021	3,833	3,772	3,665	3,719	3,063
U.S. Postal Service	719	682	645	595	559	550	501
State and local	20,050	17,918	17,453	16,659	16,056	16,078	14,265
State	8,652	7,969	7,681	7,389	7,314	7,349	6,587
Local	11,398	9,949	9,772	9,270	8,742	8,729	7,678
* Many estimates here and in the final published BLS report are subject to substantial sampling error due to small underlying sample sizes.
Note: Workers 16 and older; excludes self-employed and self-incorporated. Changes may not match exactly due to rounding.
Source: Economic Policy Institute. 2026. Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 2026.1.14, https://microdata.epi.org.