Table 4: Union membership and union coverage, 12-months ending December, 2019 to 2025
State and local government
	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Change
								2025-2024	2025-2019
Coverage (%)
State and local government	38.7%	40.3%	39.5%	38.7%	37.6%	37.1%	37.6%	0.5	−1.1
Education	43.1%	45.7%	44.8%	43.8%	42.7%	42.0%	41.1%	−0.9	−2.0
K-12, Teachers	58.6%	62.6%	61.1%	59.0%	58.4%	56.5%	56.0%	−0.6	−2.6
K-12, Non-teachers	37.9%	38.9%	37.9%	38.0%	36.6%	37.1%	34.3%	−2.7	−3.5
Higher ed and other	20.9%	23.2%	23.5%	22.3%	20.6%	21.8%	22.1%	0.3	1.2
Non-education	33.9%	35.0%	34.2%	33.8%	32.7%	32.3%	34.2%	2.0	0.3
Membership (%)
State and local government	35.3%	36.8%	35.9%	35.2%	34.2%	33.8%	34.3%	0.5	−1.1
Education	38.9%	41.3%	40.0%	39.3%	38.3%	38.0%	37.2%	−0.8	−1.7
K-12, Teachers	53.5%	57.1%	55.4%	54.1%	53.0%	52.3%	51.2%	−1.1	−2.3
K-12, Non-teachers	33.8%	34.9%	33.5%	33.1%	32.5%	32.5%	30.8%	−1.7	−3.0
Higher ed and other	18.5%	20.1%	20.1%	19.5%	17.9%	19.2%	19.6%	0.4	1.1
Non-education	31.5%	32.3%	31.7%	31.1%	30.3%	29.6%	31.4%	1.8	−0.1
Coverage
State and local government	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
Education	3,834,000	3,836,000	3,793,000	3,768,000	3,661,000	3,685,000	3,629,000	−56,000	−205,000
K-12, Teachers	2,269,000	2,292,000	2,206,000	2,188,000	2,157,000	2,099,000	2,107,000	7,000	−163,000
K-12, Non-teachers	1,148,000	1,105,000	1,167,000	1,179,000	1,135,000	1,174,000	1,130,000	−45,000	−18,000
Higher ed and other	417,000	439,000	419,000	401,000	369,000	411,000	393,000	−18,000	−24,000
Non-education	2,823,000	2,914,000	2,844,000	2,941,000	2,908,000	2,867,000	3,125,000	258,000	302,000
Membership
State and local government	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
Education	3,464,000	3,465,000	3,388,000	3,383,000	3,287,000	3,334,000	3,289,000	−45,000	−175,000
K-12, Teachers	2,072,000	2,092,000	1,999,000	2,007,000	1,959,000	1,941,000	1,928,000	−13,000	−145,000
K-12, Non-teachers	1,024,000	993,000	1,030,000	1,026,000	1,009,000	1,030,000	1,012,000	−18,000	−12,000
Higher ed and other	368,000	381,000	358,000	350,000	319,000	363,000	349,000	−14,000	−19,000
Non-education	2,623,000	2,690,000	2,639,000	2,708,000	2,688,000	2,627,000	2,866,000	239,000	243,000
Total employment
State and local government	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
Education	8,896,000	8,399,000	8,474,000	8,609,000	8,583,000	8,769,000	8,833,000	64,000	−63,000
K-12, Teachers	3,874,000	3,662,000	3,611,000	3,711,000	3,696,000	3,714,000	3,765,000	51,000	−109,000
K-12, Non-teachers	3,031,000	2,844,000	3,077,000	3,100,000	3,099,000	3,167,000	3,289,000	122,000	258,000
Higher ed and other	1,991,000	1,894,000	1,786,000	1,798,000	1,788,000	1,889,000	1,779,000	−109,000	−212,000
Non-education	8,323,000	8,331,000	8,325,000	8,708,000	8,881,000	8,883,000	9,129,000	246,000	805,000
Sample size
State and local government	20,050	17,918	17,453	16,659	16,056	16,078	14,265
Education	10,360	9,053	8,812	8,364	7,957	8,003	7,040
K-12, Teachers	4,528	3,899	3,700	3,547	3,355	3,353	2,970
K-12, Non-teachers	3,590	3,133	3,225	3,065	2,906	2,912	2,630
Higher ed and other	2,242	2,021	1,887	1,752	1,696	1,738	1,440
Non-education	9,690	8,865	8,641	8,295	8,099	8,075	7,225
* 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.
Economic Policy Institute. 2026. Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 2026.1.14, https://microdata.epi.org.