U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Economic News Release
PRINT:Print
CPS CPS Program Links

Table 3. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry

NC-06/12/2024
Table 3. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry, 2019-2020 annual averages [Numbers in thousands]
Occupation and industry 2019 2020
Total
employed		 Members
of
unions(1)		 Represented
by unions(2)		 Total
employed		 Members
of
unions(1)		 Represented
by unions(2)
Total Percent
of
employed		 Total Percent
of
employed		 Total Percent
of
employed		 Total Percent
of
employed

OCCUPATION

Management, professional, and related occupations

 56,495 6,277 11.1 7,211 12.8 55,873 6,311 11.3 7,265 13.0

Management, business, and financial operations occupations

 21,991 957 4.4 1,183 5.4 22,134 962 4.3 1,194 5.4

Management occupations

 14,753 614 4.2 748 5.1 14,350 611 4.3 761 5.3

Business and financial operations occupations

 7,238 343 4.7 435 6.0 7,785 351 4.5 433 5.6

Professional and related occupations

 34,504 5,319 15.4 6,028 17.5 33,738 5,349 15.9 6,070 18.0

Computer and mathematical occupations

 5,145 196 3.8 254 4.9 5,312 202 3.8 269 5.1

Architecture and engineering occupations

 3,137 220 7.0 264 8.4 3,039 190 6.2 229 7.5

Life, physical, and social science occupations

 1,392 120 8.6 138 9.9 1,539 148 9.6 185 12.0

Community and social service occupations

 2,617 408 15.6 454 17.4 2,576 402 15.6 452 17.5

Legal occupations

 1,598 78 4.9 110 6.9 1,526 105 6.9 121 7.9

Education, training, and library occupations

 9,233 3,057 33.1 3,381 36.6 8,639 3,104 35.9 3,440 39.8

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

 2,259 165 7.3 180 8.0 2,103 131 6.2 151 7.2

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

 9,123 1,076 11.8 1,247 13.7 9,004 1,069 11.9 1,224 13.6

Service occupations

 24,547 2,294 9.3 2,539 10.3 20,486 2,170 10.6 2,404 11.7

Healthcare support occupations

 3,605 265 7.4 298 8.3 4,641 373 8.0 434 9.4

Protective service occupations

 3,073 1,038 33.8 1,100 35.8 3,006 1,101 36.6 1,165 38.8

Food preparation and serving related occupations

 8,306 294 3.5 351 4.2 6,429 219 3.4 268 4.2

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

 4,962 433 8.7 483 9.7 4,104 394 9.6 435 10.6

Personal care and service occupations

 4,600 264 5.7 307 6.7 2,306 82 3.6 102 4.4

Sales and office occupations

 30,700 1,879 6.1 2,155 7.0 27,111 1,733 6.4 1,937 7.1

Sales and related occupations

 13,371 374 2.8 467 3.5 12,117 387 3.2 441 3.6

Office and administrative support occupations

 17,329 1,505 8.7 1,688 9.7 14,994 1,346 9.0 1,496 10.0

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations

 12,427 1,854 14.9 1,991 16.0 11,433 1,750 15.3 1,871 16.4

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

 1,060 22 2.1 36 3.4 926 24 2.6 27 2.9

Construction and extraction occupations

 6,859 1,192 17.4 1,269 18.5 6,243 1,105 17.7 1,167 18.7

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

 4,508 640 14.2 686 15.2 4,264 620 14.5 676 15.8

Production, transportation, and material moving occupations

 17,567 2,269 12.9 2,487 14.2 17,270 2,290 13.3 2,463 14.3

Production occupations

 8,304 976 11.8 1,067 12.8 7,324 870 11.9 943 12.9

Transportation and material moving occupations

 9,263 1,294 14.0 1,420 15.3 9,946 1,420 14.3 1,520 15.3

INDUSTRY

Private sector

 120,714 7,508 6.2 8,562 7.1 111,542 7,080 6.3 8,018 7.2

Agriculture and related industries

 1,352 23 1.7 38 2.8 1,281 21 1.7 25 1.9

Nonagricultural industries

 119,362 7,485 6.3 8,524 7.1 110,260 7,059 6.4 7,994 7.3

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

 710 28 4.0 33 4.7 656 37 5.6 43 6.6

Construction

 8,352 1,055 12.6 1,133 13.6 7,829 993 12.7 1,050 13.4

Manufacturing

 15,070 1,291 8.6 1,423 9.4 13,887 1,181 8.5 1,289 9.3

Durable goods

 9,502 835 8.8 912 9.6 8,705 754 8.7 821 9.4

Nondurable goods

 5,568 455 8.2 510 9.2 5,182 427 8.2 468 9.0

Wholesale and retail trade

 18,113 741 4.1 863 4.8 17,407 787 4.5 874 5.0

Wholesale trade

 3,186 143 4.5 160 5.0 3,116 133 4.3 146 4.7

Retail trade

 14,927 598 4.0 704 4.7 14,292 655 4.6 728 5.1

Transportation and utilities

 6,745 1,166 17.3 1,259 18.7 6,441 1,135 17.6 1,213 18.8

Transportation and warehousing

 5,659 912 16.1 997 17.6 5,377 916 17.0 979 18.2

Utilities

 1,086 254 23.4 261 24.0 1,064 219 20.6 234 22.0

Information(3)

 2,352 242 10.3 263 11.2 2,160 200 9.3 222 10.3

Publishing, except Internet

 355 12 3.3 13 3.8 338 8 2.4 9 2.6

Motion pictures and sound recording industries

 386 53 13.6 57 14.7 285 40 14.0 43 15.1

Broadcasting (except internet)

 482 53 11.0 57 11.9 398 30 7.6 35 8.7

Telecommunications

 821 115 14.1 125 15.3 778 111 14.3 122 15.7

Financial activities

 9,364 182 1.9 237 2.5 9,107 169 1.9 244 2.7

Finance and insurance

 6,982 87 1.2 125 1.8 6,977 96 1.4 152 2.2

Finance

 4,390 49 1.1 74 1.7 4,492 53 1.2 92 2.0

Insurance

 2,592 37 1.4 51 2.0 2,484 43 1.7 60 2.4

Real estate and rental and leasing

 2,382 95 4.0 112 4.7 2,131 74 3.5 93 4.3

Professional and business services

 15,720 339 2.2 471 3.0 14,938 323 2.2 442 3.0

Professional and technical services

 10,280 143 1.4 227 2.2 10,153 132 1.3 208 2.1

Management, administrative, and waste services

 5,440 197 3.6 244 4.5 4,785 191 4.0 233 4.9

Education and health services

 23,690 1,885 8.0 2,182 9.2 22,365 1,876 8.4 2,174 9.7

Educational services

 4,922 608 12.3 693 14.1 4,507 607 13.5 697 15.5

Health care and social assistance

 18,768 1,278 6.8 1,489 7.9 17,858 1,269 7.1 1,478 8.3

Leisure and hospitality

 13,097 384 2.9 457 3.5 10,127 223 2.2 280 2.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

 2,498 164 6.6 184 7.4 1,810 86 4.8 106 5.9

Accommodation and food services

 10,599 220 2.1 274 2.6 8,317 137 1.6 174 2.1

Accommodation

 1,427 93 6.5 100 7.0 916 52 5.7 59 6.5

Food services and drinking places

 9,172 128 1.4 173 1.9 7,401 85 1.2 114 1.5

Other services(3)

 6,150 172 2.8 202 3.3 5,344 134 2.5 162 3.0

Other services, except private households

 5,327 163 3.1 193 3.6 4,669 130 2.8 159 3.4

Public sector

 21,023 7,066 33.6 7,821 37.2 20,632 7,173 34.8 7,921 38.4

Federal government

 3,798 974 25.6 1,158 30.5 3,892 1,014 26.0 1,167 30.0

State government

 6,958 2,043 29.4 2,249 32.3 6,980 2,085 29.9 2,350 33.7

Local government

 10,267 4,050 39.4 4,414 43.0 9,760 4,074 41.7 4,404 45.1

Footnotes
(1) Data refer to members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
(2) Data refer to both union members and 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.

NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full-time wage and salary workers. All self-employed workers are excluded, both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Effective with January 2020 data, occupations reflect the introduction of the 2018 Census occupational classification system, derived from the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Data for 2020 are not strictly comparable with earlier years. Effective with January 2020 data, industries reflect the introduction of the 2017 Census industry classification system, derived from the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). No historical data have been revised.

Table of Contents
Last Modified Date: February 06, 2025