AI Workforce

The Union Card

Union membership rate

What is the current The Union Card?

UNION MEMBERSHIP RATE
9.9% ↓ Worsening
of employed workers carry a union card, down from about a third of the workforce in the 1950s

Union Membership Rate: 9.9% as of 2024, and worsening. Source: BLS Union Members (spliced).

The Union Card falling to 9.9%

Tracking worsening relative to recent baseline.

How has The Union Card changed over time?

CSV Chart
Union membership keeps shrinking as a share of the workforce
Union members as a share of employed wage and salary workers
The Union Card
Historical data
Annual · BLS Union Members (spliced)
Period Value YoY Change
2024 9.9% −0.1 pts
2023 10% −0.1 pts
2022 10.1% −0.2 pts
2021 10.3% −0.5 pts
2020 10.8% +0.5 pts
2019 10.3% −0.2 pts
2018 10.5% −0.2 pts
2017 10.7% −0.2 pts
2016 10.9% −0.2 pts
2015 11.1% −0.2 pts
2014 11.26% −0.2 pts
2013 11.42% −0.2 pts

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Union Membership Rate?

Union membership rate

Why does Union Membership Rate matter for financial distress?

Union Membership Rate is one of the indicators tracked by the American Distress Index (ADI), which measures five dimensions of U.S. household financial distress: Delinquency, Default & Legal, Debt Burden, Labor, and Safety Net & Buffer. Changes in this indicator contribute to the overall distress picture.

Where does the Union Membership Rate data come from?

This data comes from BLS Union Members (spliced). More information: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm. The American Distress Index updates this indicator annual.

Ross Kilburn
Written by

Ross Kilburn, Founder

American Default Research · Seattle, Washington

Two decades working directly with financially distressed American households — from property preservation in 2003, to negotiating over 1,000 short sales during the Great Recession, to foreclosure defense marketing today. Author, The Ark Law Group Complete Guide to Short Sales (Auroch Press, 2013). Twice named to Puget Sound Business Journal Fast 50 for Ark Law Group. B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1992. Founded American Default Research in 2026 to fill a gap in public data that had been empty since 2013.

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Why does The Union Card matter?

The Union Card is one of 98 live indicators tracked by American Default Research. The methodology page explains sources, update cadence, and how the index uses its published inputs.
View methodology →
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