Table 4b: Union membership and union coverage within the public sector, 11-months ending November, 2019 to 2024
By selected characteristics
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change
2024-2023 2024-2019
Coverage (%)
All 37.2% 38.3% 37.5% 36.9% 36.1% 35.5% −0.6 −1.7
Gender Male 37.6% 38.4% 38.3% 37.8% 37.6% 36.1% −1.4 −1.5
Female 36.9% 38.3% 36.8% 36.1% 35.0% 35.0% 0.0 −1.9
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 38.6% 39.1% 38.6% 37.7% 37.1% 36.2% −0.9 −2.4
Black 31.0% 34.9% 33.7% 32.8% 32.3% 31.9% −0.4 0.9
Hispanic 38.6% 39.8% 38.8% 38.7% 37.8% 37.2% −0.6 −1.4
AAPI 38.9% 41.0% 35.9% 39.4% 35.8% 37.5% 1.6 −1.5
Other 23.1% 18.3% 22.1% 20.3% 21.9% 21.4% −0.5 −1.7
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 38.5% 39.1% 38.5% 37.8% 37.0% 36.2% −0.8 −2.3
Black 31.6% 35.6% 33.8% 32.5% 32.4% 31.7% −0.7 0.1
Hispanic 38.6% 39.8% 38.8% 38.7% 37.8% 37.2% −0.6 −1.4
Asian 37.9% 40.7% 35.4% 38.1% 34.2% 37.8% 3.5 −0.1
Age 16-24 19.3% 20.9% 22.9% 18.5% 20.4% 24.5% 4.2 5.3
25-34 37.2% 39.0% 36.8% 37.4% 34.6% 32.9% −1.7 −4.3
35-44 41.2% 42.1% 40.7% 39.9% 40.2% 39.2% −1.1 −2.1
45-54 40.3% 41.0% 40.8% 41.1% 40.3% 39.4% −0.9 −0.9
55-64 37.0% 38.3% 37.0% 35.1% 35.3% 35.6% 0.3 −1.4
65 & up 31.6% 27.2% 28.1% 30.6% 26.9% 27.5% 0.5 −4.1
Membership (%)
All 33.6% 34.7% 33.8% 33.2% 32.6% 31.9% −0.7 −1.7
Gender Male 34.3% 34.8% 34.6% 34.5% 34.2% 32.6% −1.5 −1.6
Female 33.1% 34.7% 33.2% 32.2% 31.4% 31.4% 0.0 −1.7
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 34.7% 35.4% 34.7% 33.8% 33.2% 32.4% −0.8 −2.3
Black 28.3% 31.9% 31.1% 29.9% 30.0% 28.5% −1.5 0.2
Hispanic 34.9% 35.6% 34.8% 35.1% 34.6% 34.0% −0.6 −0.9
AAPI 36.1% 37.8% 32.4% 36.1% 32.0% 34.2% 2.3 −1.9
Other 21.4% 16.1% 20.9% 15.6% 21.0% 20.8% −0.1 −0.6
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 34.7% 35.3% 34.6% 34.0% 33.3% 32.6% −0.8 −2.2
Black 28.7% 32.6% 31.1% 29.6% 29.8% 28.6% −1.1 −0.1
Hispanic 34.9% 35.6% 34.8% 35.1% 34.6% 34.0% −0.6 −0.9
Asian 35.2% 37.4% 31.8% 34.6% 30.7% 34.5% 3.8 −0.7
Age 16-24 17.0% 18.5% 18.9% 16.6% 18.1% 18.9% 0.8 1.9
25-34 33.2% 35.2% 33.6% 33.3% 30.9% 29.8% −1.1 −3.4
35-44 37.5% 38.8% 36.7% 36.6% 36.4% 35.4% −1.0 −2.1
45-54 36.6% 37.5% 37.3% 37.3% 37.0% 36.2% −0.8 −0.4
55-64 33.4% 34.0% 33.0% 31.4% 31.6% 32.0% 0.4 −1.3
65 & up 28.9% 24.3% 25.3% 26.4% 24.5% 24.3% −0.2 −4.5
Coverage
All 7,816,000 7,915,000 7,721,000 7,843,000 7,787,000 7,699,000 −88,000 −117,000
Gender Male 3,393,000 3,395,000 3,376,000 3,486,000 3,513,000 3,370,000 −143,000 −23,000
Female 4,423,000 4,520,000 4,345,000 4,357,000 4,274,000 4,329,000 55,000 −94,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 5,283,000 5,184,000 5,146,000 5,121,000 5,012,000 4,860,000 −153,000 −424,000
Black 989,000 1,085,000 1,079,000 1,110,000 1,141,000 1,128,000 −13,000 139,000
Hispanic 997,000 1,107,000 1,002,000 1,063,000 1,074,000 1,146,000 72,000 149,000
AAPI 470,000 479,000 423,000 483,000 491,000 493,000 3,000 23,000
Other 77,000 58,000 72,000 66,000 69,000 72,000 3,000 −5,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 6,160,000 6,137,000 5,997,000 6,041,000 5,931,000 5,845,000 −85,000 −315,000
Black 1,014,000 1,113,000 1,090,000 1,113,000 1,140,000 1,118,000 −22,000 104,000
Hispanic 997,000 1,107,000 1,002,000 1,063,000 1,074,000 1,146,000 72,000 149,000
Asian 407,000 416,000 363,000 408,000 402,000 428,000 26,000 21,000
Age 16-24 277,000 250,000 262,000 237,000 278,000 366,000 88,000 89,000
25-34 1,558,000 1,652,000 1,549,000 1,592,000 1,494,000 1,431,000 −63,000 −127,000
35-44 1,945,000 2,066,000 1,922,000 2,010,000 2,095,000 2,022,000 −74,000 76,000
45-54 2,024,000 2,000,000 2,095,000 2,120,000 2,108,000 2,045,000 −63,000 22,000
55-64 1,583,000 1,607,000 1,554,000 1,478,000 1,455,000 1,428,000 −27,000 −155,000
65 & up 429,000 340,000 339,000 406,000 357,000 407,000 50,000 −21,000
Membership
All 7,062,000 7,174,000 6,966,000 7,068,000 7,038,000 6,932,000 −106,000 −130,000
Gender Male 3,090,000 3,074,000 3,049,000 3,182,000 3,195,000 3,045,000 −150,000 −46,000
Female 3,971,000 4,100,000 3,918,000 3,885,000 3,843,000 3,887,000 45,000 −84,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 4,754,000 4,699,000 4,623,000 4,597,000 4,490,000 4,358,000 −133,000 −396,000
Black 901,000 992,000 995,000 1,012,000 1,059,000 1,007,000 −52,000 106,000
Hispanic 900,000 991,000 899,000 965,000 985,000 1,047,000 63,000 147,000
AAPI 436,000 441,000 382,000 443,000 437,000 450,000 13,000 14,000
Other 71,000 51,000 68,000 51,000 66,000 70,000 4,000 −1,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 5,551,000 5,549,000 5,390,000 5,434,000 5,335,000 5,254,000 −81,000 −298,000
Black 919,000 1,018,000 1,002,000 1,013,000 1,047,000 1,010,000 −37,000 91,000
Hispanic 900,000 991,000 899,000 965,000 985,000 1,047,000 63,000 147,000
Asian 378,000 383,000 325,000 370,000 360,000 390,000 31,000 13,000
Age 16-24 245,000 221,000 216,000 213,000 247,000 282,000 35,000 37,000
25-34 1,391,000 1,492,000 1,410,000 1,417,000 1,333,000 1,295,000 −38,000 −96,000
35-44 1,770,000 1,904,000 1,730,000 1,842,000 1,895,000 1,829,000 −66,000 59,000
45-54 1,837,000 1,827,000 1,918,000 1,923,000 1,933,000 1,879,000 −53,000 42,000
55-64 1,427,000 1,426,000 1,387,000 1,322,000 1,304,000 1,285,000 −18,000 −142,000
65 & up 392,000 304,000 305,000 351,000 325,000 361,000 36,000 −31,000
Total employment
All 21,009,000 20,651,000 20,612,000 21,276,000 21,569,000 21,697,000 127,000 688,000
Gender Male 9,014,000 8,841,000 8,811,000 9,222,000 9,351,000 9,327,000 −23,000 313,000
Female 11,994,000 11,810,000 11,801,000 12,053,000 12,219,000 12,369,000 150,000 375,000
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 13,701,000 13,271,000 13,328,000 13,592,000 13,514,000 13,431,000 −83,000 −270,000
Black 3,186,000 3,107,000 3,198,000 3,385,000 3,527,000 3,533,000 6,000 346,000
Hispanic 2,582,000 2,785,000 2,584,000 2,748,000 2,843,000 3,081,000 238,000 499,000
AAPI 1,208,000 1,169,000 1,178,000 1,226,000 1,369,000 1,317,000 −52,000 108,000
Other 331,000 320,000 323,000 325,000 316,000 336,000 20,000 5,000
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 15,990,000 15,712,000 15,574,000 15,981,000 16,011,000 16,132,000 121,000 142,000
Black 3,204,000 3,122,000 3,227,000 3,427,000 3,519,000 3,527,000 8,000 323,000
Hispanic 2,582,000 2,785,000 2,584,000 2,748,000 2,843,000 3,081,000 238,000 499,000
Asian 1,074,000 1,024,000 1,024,000 1,071,000 1,174,000 1,133,000 −41,000 58,000
Age 16-24 1,440,000 1,195,000 1,145,000 1,282,000 1,363,000 1,491,000 128,000 51,000
25-34 4,194,000 4,238,000 4,204,000 4,254,000 4,321,000 4,351,000 30,000 157,000
35-44 4,719,000 4,903,000 4,719,000 5,037,000 5,208,000 5,163,000 −44,000 445,000
45-54 5,021,000 4,872,000 5,139,000 5,163,000 5,228,000 5,195,000 −33,000 174,000
55-64 4,278,000 4,192,000 4,200,000 4,212,000 4,122,000 4,013,000 −109,000 −264,000
65 & up 1,358,000 1,252,000 1,205,000 1,328,000 1,327,000 1,483,000 156,000 125,000
Sample size
All 141,785 122,244 123,360 119,494 115,355 115,201
Gender Male 72,077 62,394 63,049 61,126 58,809 58,772
Female 69,708 59,850 60,311 58,368 56,546 56,429
Race/ethnicity (EPI**) White 95,811 83,896 82,765 78,893 75,502 74,718
Black 14,239 12,057 12,528 12,183 11,597 11,195
Hispanic 20,530 16,751 18,008 18,144 18,308 19,139
AAPI 9,363 8,059 8,512 8,785 8,495 8,701
Other 1,842 1,481 1,547 1,489 1,453 1,448
Race/ethnicity (BLS***) White 114,529 99,177 99,062 95,304 92,150 92,041
Black 14,227 12,017 12,540 12,193 11,614 11,238
Hispanic 20,530 16,751 18,008 18,144 18,308 19,139
Asian 8,269 7,142 7,601 7,691 7,351 7,680
Age 16-24 17,197 13,869 14,862 14,256 13,932 13,869
25-34 31,223 26,150 26,976 26,179 24,952 24,824
35-44 30,258 26,673 26,962 26,378 25,435 25,816
45-54 28,846 25,068 24,750 23,714 23,000 22,817
55-64 25,203 22,307 21,657 20,821 19,854 19,487
65 & up 9,058 8,177 8,153 8,146 8,182 8,388
* 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 1.0.59, https://microdata.epi.org.