Table 4a: Union membership and union coverage within the private sector, 12-months ending December, 2019 to 2024
By selected characteristics
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
2024-2023 2024-2019
Coverage (%)
All 7.1% 7.2% 7.0% 6.8% 6.8% 6.7% −0.2 −0.4
Gender Male 8.5% 8.4% 8.1% 7.9% 7.9% 7.7% −0.2 −0.8
Female 5.5% 5.8% 5.6% 5.5% 5.6% 5.5% −0.1 0.0
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 7.0% 7.0% 6.9% 6.7% 6.6% 6.4% −0.2 −0.5
Black 8.2% 8.8% 7.9% 8.0% 8.7% 8.6% −0.1 0.4
Hispanic 6.9% 7.2% 7.0% 6.7% 6.8% 6.4% −0.5 −0.5
AAPI 6.6% 5.8% 5.8% 6.0% 6.0% 6.5% 0.5 −0.1
Other 7.3% 6.1% 5.6% 7.1% 5.3% 6.5% 1.2 −0.8
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 6.9% 7.0% 6.9% 6.6% 6.6% 6.4% −0.3 −0.6
Black 8.6% 9.0% 8.0% 8.3% 8.7% 8.8% 0.1 0.2
Hispanic 6.9% 7.2% 7.0% 6.7% 6.8% 6.4% −0.5 −0.5
Asian 6.3% 5.7% 5.5% 5.7% 5.6% 6.3% 0.7 0.0
Age 16-24 4.0% 3.9% 4.0% 4.2% 4.0% 3.8% −0.2 −0.3
25-34 6.4% 6.7% 6.7% 6.1% 6.5% 6.4% −0.2 0.0
35-44 7.8% 7.5% 7.4% 7.1% 6.9% 7.1% 0.2 −0.7
45-54 8.2% 8.7% 8.2% 7.9% 8.1% 7.8% −0.3 −0.4
55-64 8.9% 8.9% 8.2% 8.6% 8.6% 8.1% −0.5 −0.8
65 & up 6.5% 6.4% 6.2% 6.6% 6.6% 6.5% −0.1 0.0
Membership (%)
All 6.2% 6.3% 6.1% 6.0% 6.0% 5.9% −0.1 −0.3
Gender Male 7.5% 7.5% 7.2% 7.1% 7.1% 6.9% −0.1 −0.6
Female 4.7% 5.0% 4.7% 4.7% 4.8% 4.7% −0.1 0.0
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 6.2% 6.2% 6.1% 5.9% 5.8% 5.7% −0.1 −0.5
Black 7.2% 7.5% 7.0% 7.3% 7.7% 7.7% −0.1 0.5
Hispanic 5.9% 6.5% 6.0% 5.7% 6.0% 5.4% −0.6 −0.4
AAPI 5.6% 5.1% 4.8% 5.4% 5.1% 5.5% 0.4 0.0
Other 6.3% 5.4% 5.2% 6.0% 4.7% 6.1% 1.4 −0.2
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 6.1% 6.3% 6.0% 5.8% 5.8% 5.6% −0.3 −0.5
Black 7.5% 7.7% 7.0% 7.5% 7.8% 7.9% 0.1 0.4
Hispanic 5.9% 6.5% 6.0% 5.7% 6.0% 5.4% −0.6 −0.4
Asian 5.3% 4.9% 4.6% 5.1% 4.8% 5.3% 0.6 0.0
Age 16-24 3.4% 3.3% 3.1% 3.5% 3.3% 3.1% −0.2 −0.3
25-34 5.3% 5.9% 5.8% 5.3% 5.7% 5.6% −0.1 0.2
35-44 7.0% 6.6% 6.5% 6.2% 6.1% 6.2% 0.0 −0.8
45-54 7.3% 7.7% 7.4% 7.0% 7.2% 6.9% −0.2 −0.4
55-64 8.0% 8.1% 7.3% 7.8% 7.8% 7.4% −0.3 −0.6
65 & up 5.7% 5.6% 5.5% 5.9% 5.8% 5.8% 0.0 0.1
Coverage
All 8,562,000 8,021,000 8,050,000 8,164,000 8,424,000 8,215,000 −209,000 −347,000
Gender Male 5,451,000 5,032,000 5,035,000 5,081,000 5,220,000 5,043,000 −177,000 −409,000
Female 3,111,000 2,989,000 3,015,000 3,083,000 3,204,000 3,172,000 −32,000 62,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 5,095,000 4,782,000 4,811,000 4,745,000 4,750,000 4,579,000 −171,000 −516,000
Black 1,216,000 1,185,000 1,112,000 1,196,000 1,343,000 1,317,000 −26,000 101,000
Hispanic 1,573,000 1,509,000 1,556,000 1,575,000 1,673,000 1,599,000 −73,000 26,000
AAPI 589,000 481,000 507,000 562,000 592,000 641,000 49,000 51,000
Other 89,000 64,000 65,000 85,000 66,000 79,000 14,000 −10,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 6,441,000 6,091,000 6,157,000 6,078,000 6,223,000 5,932,000 −290,000 −508,000
Black 1,289,000 1,218,000 1,133,000 1,252,000 1,369,000 1,371,000 2,000 82,000
Hispanic 1,573,000 1,509,000 1,556,000 1,575,000 1,673,000 1,599,000 −73,000 26,000
Asian 519,000 427,000 441,000 482,000 498,000 568,000 71,000 49,000
Age 16-24 703,000 604,000 677,000 729,000 736,000 668,000 −68,000 −35,000
25-34 1,898,000 1,819,000 1,883,000 1,740,000 1,914,000 1,856,000 −59,000 −42,000
35-44 1,966,000 1,762,000 1,818,000 1,844,000 1,836,000 1,929,000 93,000 −37,000
45-54 1,892,000 1,869,000 1,793,000 1,792,000 1,856,000 1,773,000 −83,000 −118,000
55-64 1,680,000 1,576,000 1,482,000 1,621,000 1,619,000 1,520,000 −99,000 −160,000
65 & up 424,000 391,000 397,000 437,000 462,000 469,000 7,000 45,000
Membership
All 7,508,000 7,082,000 7,026,000 7,219,000 7,408,000 7,229,000 −179,000 −279,000
Gender Male 4,850,000 4,509,000 4,471,000 4,594,000 4,657,000 4,546,000 −111,000 −303,000
Female 2,658,000 2,573,000 2,555,000 2,625,000 2,751,000 2,682,000 −69,000 24,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 4,528,000 4,236,000 4,244,000 4,207,000 4,176,000 4,066,000 −110,000 −463,000
Black 1,067,000 1,019,000 974,000 1,082,000 1,193,000 1,179,000 −13,000 112,000
Hispanic 1,337,000 1,352,000 1,328,000 1,355,000 1,478,000 1,363,000 −116,000 26,000
AAPI 498,000 420,000 419,000 504,000 502,000 546,000 44,000 48,000
Other 77,000 56,000 60,000 72,000 59,000 75,000 16,000 −2,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 5,671,000 5,409,000 5,395,000 5,358,000 5,462,000 5,205,000 −257,000 −466,000
Black 1,120,000 1,046,000 992,000 1,126,000 1,218,000 1,225,000 6,000 104,000
Hispanic 1,337,000 1,352,000 1,328,000 1,355,000 1,478,000 1,363,000 −116,000 26,000
Asian 434,000 373,000 368,000 434,000 422,000 478,000 56,000 44,000
Age 16-24 590,000 510,000 532,000 607,000 610,000 546,000 −64,000 −44,000
25-34 1,575,000 1,593,000 1,618,000 1,528,000 1,654,000 1,616,000 −38,000 41,000
35-44 1,753,000 1,563,000 1,591,000 1,620,000 1,628,000 1,677,000 48,000 −76,000
45-54 1,697,000 1,651,000 1,614,000 1,591,000 1,645,000 1,586,000 −59,000 −112,000
55-64 1,520,000 1,426,000 1,321,000 1,480,000 1,465,000 1,389,000 −76,000 −131,000
65 & up 373,000 339,000 350,000 393,000 405,000 416,000 11,000 43,000
Total employment
All 120,755,000 111,587,000 115,807,000 120,400,000 122,994,000 122,722,000 −272,000 1,967,000
Gender Male 64,383,000 59,911,000 61,960,000 64,485,000 65,746,000 65,419,000 −327,000 1,036,000
Female 56,372,000 51,676,000 53,847,000 55,915,000 57,248,000 57,303,000 55,000 931,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 72,958,000 67,937,000 69,720,000 71,289,000 71,941,000 71,104,000 −837,000 −1,855,000
Black 14,792,000 13,517,000 14,007,000 14,904,000 15,397,000 15,356,000 −41,000 564,000
Hispanic 22,833,000 20,839,000 22,160,000 23,628,000 24,532,000 25,146,000 614,000 2,313,000
AAPI 8,948,000 8,251,000 8,763,000 9,386,000 9,889,000 9,893,000 4,000 946,000
Other 1,225,000 1,043,000 1,157,000 1,193,000 1,236,000 1,224,000 −12,000 −1,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 93,189,000 86,478,000 89,389,000 92,268,000 93,692,000 93,292,000 −400,000 103,000
Black 14,997,000 13,605,000 14,126,000 15,079,000 15,663,000 15,584,000 −79,000 587,000
Hispanic 22,833,000 20,839,000 22,160,000 23,628,000 24,532,000 25,146,000 614,000 2,313,000
Asian 8,229,000 7,553,000 8,077,000 8,529,000 8,882,000 9,015,000 132,000 786,000
Age 16-24 17,433,000 15,574,000 16,939,000 17,514,000 18,399,000 17,727,000 −672,000 294,000
25-34 29,535,000 27,205,000 28,120,000 28,740,000 29,229,000 29,005,000 −224,000 −531,000
35-44 25,185,000 23,606,000 24,573,000 25,946,000 26,503,000 27,229,000 726,000 2,043,000
45-54 23,156,000 21,479,000 21,738,000 22,596,000 22,974,000 22,843,000 −131,000 −313,000
55-64 18,941,000 17,652,000 18,049,000 18,931,000 18,897,000 18,756,000 −141,000 −185,000
65 & up 6,504,000 6,071,000 6,387,000 6,673,000 6,992,000 7,163,000 171,000 659,000
Sample size
All 154,727 133,671 134,177 129,714 125,755 125,586
Gender Male 78,633 68,252 68,586 66,361 64,079 64,060
Female 76,094 65,419 65,591 63,353 61,676 61,526
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 104,491 91,644 89,917 85,487 82,151 81,427
Black 15,570 13,234 13,657 13,218 12,696 12,160
Hispanic 22,427 18,331 19,641 19,882 20,031 20,910
AAPI 10,236 8,842 9,293 9,512 9,276 9,503
Other 2,003 1,620 1,669 1,615 1,601 1,586
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 124,948 108,361 107,668 103,483 100,355 100,364
Black 15,566 13,181 13,689 13,247 12,710 12,207
Hispanic 22,427 18,331 19,641 19,882 20,031 20,910
Asian 9,027 7,833 8,295 8,338 8,042 8,374
Age 16-24 18,696 15,210 16,139 15,440 15,174 15,109
25-34 34,093 28,809 29,376 28,324 27,207 27,045
35-44 33,172 29,094 29,390 28,632 27,722 28,161
45-54 31,451 27,351 26,859 25,785 25,084 24,895
55-64 27,428 24,275 23,513 22,638 21,606 21,212
65 & up 9,887 8,932 8,900 8,895 8,962 9,164
* Many estimates here and in the final published BLS report are subject to substantial sampling error due to small underlying sample sizes.
** The EPI race/ethnicity categories in this table are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race). Data here will not match published BLS data because the BLS categories are not mutually exclusive.
*** The BLS race/ethnicity categories in this table are not mutually exclusive (i.e., white, Black, and Hispanic overlapping any race) to more closely match published BLS data.
Note: Workers 16 and older; excludes self-employed and self-incorporated. Changes may not match exactly due to rounding.
Source: Economic Policy Institute. 2022. Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.60, https://microdata.epi.org.