Table 1a: Union membership and union coverage, 12-months ending December, 2019 to 2025 excluding October
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Change
								2025-2024	2025-2019
Coverage (%)
All	11.6%	12.1%	11.6%	11.3%	11.1%	11.1%	11.2%	0.1	−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%	35.6%	35.9%	36.4%	0.5	−0.9
Federal	30.2%	29.9%	29.3%	28.5%	28.6%	29.8%	31.1%	1.3	0.9
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	23.0%	22.9%	22.4%	21.6%	22.3%	23.1%	22.9%	−0.3	−0.1
U.S. Postal Service	66.8%	67.4%	64.2%	64.6%	63.9%	67.6%	71.9%	4.2	5.1
State and local	38.8%	40.4%	39.5%	38.7%	37.3%	37.3%	37.6%	0.3	−1.2
State	32.5%	34.0%	33.1%	33.1%	31.4%	31.5%	32.7%	1.2	0.2
Local	43.0%	45.0%	43.9%	42.6%	41.5%	41.6%	41.4%	−0.3	−1.7
Membership (%)
All	10.3%	10.8%	10.3%	10.1%	9.9%	9.9%	10.0%	0.1	−0.3
Private sector	6.2%	6.4%	6.1%	6.0%	6.0%	5.9%	5.9%	0.0	−0.3
Public sector	33.6%	34.8%	33.9%	33.2%	32.1%	32.2%	32.9%	0.7	−0.6
Federal	25.3%	26.0%	25.3%	24.8%	24.8%	25.1%	27.2%	2.0	1.8
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	18.2%	19.2%	18.5%	17.8%	18.7%	18.4%	18.9%	0.5	0.7
U.S. Postal Service	61.6%	62.6%	58.9%	61.6%	59.4%	63.6%	68.3%	4.7	6.7
State and local	35.4%	36.8%	35.8%	35.2%	33.8%	33.9%	34.3%	0.4	−1.1
State	29.4%	30.2%	29.6%	29.8%	28.0%	27.8%	29.6%	1.8	0.2
Local	39.4%	41.5%	40.2%	38.8%	38.2%	38.4%	37.8%	−0.6	−1.6
Coverage
All	16,362,000	15,938,000	15,834,000	15,961,000	16,088,000	16,039,000	16,478,000	439,000	116,000
Private sector	8,559,000	8,037,000	8,094,000	8,141,000	8,392,000	8,236,000	8,440,000	203,000	−119,000
Public sector	7,804,000	7,900,000	7,740,000	7,820,000	7,695,000	7,803,000	8,039,000	235,000	235,000
Federal	1,141,000	1,157,000	1,116,000	1,125,000	1,175,000	1,232,000	1,284,000	51,000	142,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	724,000	748,000	709,000	716,000	780,000	816,000	787,000	−30,000	63,000
U.S. Postal Service	417,000	409,000	407,000	409,000	394,000	416,000	497,000	81,000	80,000
State and local	6,662,000	6,744,000	6,624,000	6,696,000	6,521,000	6,571,000	6,755,000	184,000	92,000
State	2,247,000	2,381,000	2,279,000	2,353,000	2,332,000	2,369,000	2,544,000	175,000	296,000
Local	4,415,000	4,363,000	4,345,000	4,342,000	4,189,000	4,202,000	4,211,000	9,000	−204,000
Membership
All	14,545,000	14,242,000	14,048,000	14,293,000	14,335,000	14,272,000	14,657,000	385,000	112,000
Private sector	7,506,000	7,094,000	7,074,000	7,230,000	7,393,000	7,256,000	7,381,000	124,000	−126,000
Public sector	7,038,000	7,147,000	6,974,000	7,063,000	6,942,000	7,016,000	7,276,000	261,000	238,000
Federal	956,000	1,005,000	961,000	980,000	1,020,000	1,042,000	1,121,000	80,000	165,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	572,000	625,000	588,000	590,000	654,000	650,000	649,000	−1,000	77,000
U.S. Postal Service	385,000	380,000	374,000	390,000	366,000	392,000	472,000	81,000	88,000
State and local	6,082,000	6,142,000	6,013,000	6,083,000	5,922,000	5,974,000	6,155,000	181,000	73,000
State	2,036,000	2,117,000	2,036,000	2,120,000	2,074,000	2,095,000	2,304,000	209,000	268,000
Local	4,046,000	4,026,000	3,977,000	3,963,000	3,848,000	3,879,000	3,851,000	−28,000	−195,000
Total employment
All	141,661,000	132,013,000	136,258,000	141,657,000	144,507,000	144,495,000	146,687,000	2,192,000	5,026,000
Private sector	120,707,000	111,452,000	115,669,000	120,407,000	122,893,000	122,731,000	124,598,000	1,867,000	3,890,000
Public sector	20,954,000	20,561,000	20,589,000	21,250,000	21,614,000	21,765,000	22,089,000	325,000	1,136,000
Federal	3,773,000	3,865,000	3,806,000	3,944,000	4,113,000	4,142,000	4,128,000	−15,000	355,000
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	3,148,000	3,258,000	3,171,000	3,310,000	3,496,000	3,527,000	3,436,000	−91,000	288,000
U.S. Postal Service	624,000	607,000	634,000	633,000	617,000	615,000	691,000	76,000	67,000
State and local	17,181,000	16,696,000	16,783,000	17,306,000	17,501,000	17,622,000	17,962,000	339,000	781,000
State	6,919,000	7,001,000	6,888,000	7,105,000	7,416,000	7,531,000	7,781,000	250,000	862,000
Local	10,262,000	9,695,000	9,895,000	10,201,000	10,085,000	10,092,000	10,181,000	89,000	−81,000
Sample size
All	141,782	121,918	122,857	118,949	114,894	114,991	109,539
Private sector	119,042	101,289	102,751	99,673	96,287	96,370	91,710
Public sector	22,740	20,629	20,106	19,276	18,607	18,621	17,829
Federal	4,390	4,284	4,107	3,984	3,882	3,909	3,564
Federal except U.S. Postal Service	3,737	3,660	3,511	3,432	3,371	3,411	3,063
U.S. Postal Service	653	624	596	552	511	498	501
State and local	18,350	16,345	15,999	15,292	14,725	14,712	14,265
State	7,903	7,309	7,089	6,736	6,696	6,733	6,587
Local	10,447	9,036	8,910	8,556	8,029	7,979	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.