---
title: "Union Membership Rate"
slug: the-union-card
summary: "Union membership was 10% of wage and salary workers in 2025, little changed from 9.9% in 2024"
category: "The Deal"
unit: percent
frequency: annual
direction: lower_is_worse
latest_value: 10.0
latest_period: "2025"
trend: stable
last_updated: "2026-09-25T18:32:44Z"
source: "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Union Members"
source_url: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
source_urls:
  - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
  - https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LUU0204899600
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Union Membership Rate [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Union Membership Rate.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Union Membership Rate.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/."
---

# Union Membership Rate

Also tracked as The Union Card.

> Union membership was 10% of wage and salary workers in 2025, little changed from 9.9% in 2024

## Current Reading

As of 2025, Union Membership Rate is **10%** (stable).

BLS annual average from the Current Population Survey.

## What Changed

- 10% of employed U.S. wage and salary workers were union members in 2025, little changed from 9.9% in 2024.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2025 | 10% |
| 2024 | 9.9% |
| 2023 | 10% |
| 2022 | 10.1% |
| 2021 | 10.3% |
| 2020 | 10.8% |
| 2019 | 10.3% |
| 2018 | 10.5% |
| 2017 | 10.7% |
| 2016 | 10.7% |
| 2015 | 11.1% |
| 2014 | 11.1% |

## Historical Context

- Peak since 1983: **20.1%** in 1983
- Low since 1983: **9.9%** in 2024
- Pre-pandemic average (2015-01 – 2019-12): **10.66%**
- Post-pandemic average (2020-01 – 2024-12): **10.22%**

## Methodology

This indicator carries annual observations and is interpreted as lower values indicate worse household conditions. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Union Members.
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Union Members
- [https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm)
- [https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LUU0204899600](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LUU0204899600)

Data retrieved: 2026-09-25T18:32:44Z

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/the-union-card.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/the-union-card.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/the-union-card.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/the-union-card.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Union Membership Rate [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Union Membership Rate." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Union Membership Rate." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/the-union-card/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.