Union Participation by Occupation and Industry

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The following table shows the percent of workers that are represented by unions or members of unions, according to occupations that include managerial, executive, industrial, professional, technical, sales, and transportation positions.

Percent of employed
population that are
members of unions1
Percent of employed
population that are
represented by unions2
2007 2006 1999 1998 1997 2007 2006 1999 1998 1997
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty 13.1% 12.8% 13.2% 12.8% 13.2% 14.9% 14.6% 15.4% 15.2% 15.5%
Executive, administrative, and managerial 4.5 4.2 5.6 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.3 7.1 6.6 6.4
Professional specialty 18.2 17.7 19.7 19.5 20.2 20.5 20.0 22.5 22.7 23.4
Technical, sales, and administrative support 10.2 9.9 9.0 9.2 9.1 11.3 10.9 10.2 10.4 10.5
Technicians and related support n.a. n.a. 11.0 10.4 10.4 n.a. n.a. 12.5 12.0 12.2
Sales occupations 3.3 3.1 4.1 4.1 4.3 3.7 3.5 4.6 4.6 5.0
Administrative support, including clerical n.a. n.a. 12.2 12.7 12.3 n.a. n.a. 13.8 14.3 14.1
Service occupations 11.4 11.4 12.8 13.3 13.2 12.4 12.3 13.9 14.5 14.5
Protective service 35.2 34.7 38.2 41.3 39.9 37.2 36.6 40.8 43.7 42.9
Service, except protective service 8.0 8.9 8.5 8.6 8.9 8.6 9.7 9.3 9.5 10.0
Precision production, craft, and repair n.a. n.a. 22.4 22.1 22.6 n.a. n.a. 23.5 23.1 23.7
Operators, fabricators, and laborers n.a. n.a. 20.7 21.3 21.5 n.a. n.a. 21.9 22.3 22.7
Machine operators, assemblers,
and inspectors
n.a. n.a. 20.5 21.4 21.9 n.a. n.a. 21.7 22.3 22.9
Transportation and material moving
occupations
17.7 18.5 22.8 24.4 24.3 19.0 19.7 24.1 25.7 25.9
Handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers,
and laborers
n.a. n.a. 18.9 18.1 18.1 n.a. n.a. 20.0 19.1 19.4
Farming, forestry, and fishing 2.7 3.5 5.8 4.6 4.6 3.2 3.7 6.4 5.2 5.1
Industry
Private wage and salary workers 7.5 7.4 9.4 9.5 n.a. 8.2 8.1 10.2 10.3 n.a.
Agriculture 1.5 2.3 2.5 1.5 2.1 1.8 2.6 2.8 1.8 2.4
Nonagricultural industries 7.5 7.5 9.5 9.6 9.8 8.2 8.1 10.3 10.4 10.8
Mining 9.3 7.5 10.6 12.2 13.9 10.2 8.8 11.4 13.4 14.3
Construction 13.9 13.0 19.1 17.8 18.6 14.4 13.6 19.6 18.4 19.5
Manufacturing 11.3 11.7 15.6 15.8 16.3 12.0 12.5 16.6 16.8 17.2
Durable goods 11.3 11.8 16.4 16.6 17.5 12.0 12.5 17.5 17.5 18.5
Nondurable goods 11.3 11.4 14.4 14.7 14.5 12.1 12.3 15.3 15.7 15.4
Transportation and public utilities 22.1 23.2 25.5 25.8 26.0 23.4 24.3 26.7 27.0 27.5
Transportation 20.9 22.2 25.5 25.7 26.5 22.3 23.4 26.7 26.8 27.9
Communications and public utilities 28.4 28.2 25.4 26.0 25.1 29.4 29.1 26.9 27.4 26.7
Wholesale and retail trade 5.2 5.0 5.2 5.3 5.6 5.7 5.3 5.7 5.7 6.2
Wholesale trade 5.2 4.9 5.4 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.2 6.1 6.2 6.6
Retail trade 5.2 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.3 5.6 5.6 6.1
Finance, insurance, and real estate 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.8
Services 2.93 3.13 5.5 5.6 5.4 3.33 3.53 6.5 6.6 6.5
Government workers 35.9 36.2 37.3 37.5 37.2 39.8 40.1 42.1 42.5 42.3
Federal 26.8 28.4 32.1 33.8 32.0 31.5 33.7 39.0 39.7 39.4
State 30.4 30.2 29.2 27.8 29.5 34.0 33.6 34.0 32.4 33.4
Local 41.8 41.9 42.9 43.8 42.7 45.6 45.7 47.0 48.6 47.7
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of whether or not their businesses are incorporated. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
1. Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
2. Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union as well as workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract.
3. Includes other industries, not shown separately.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web: www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t03.htm .

Weekly Earnings of Union-Affiliated Workers Labor Unions Weekly Earnings of Union-Affiliated Workers by Occupation
Labor Union Statistics
Sources +