Editor's Note: This article was revised on Nov. 20, 2024, with Gallup's latest data pertaining to labor unions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nine percent of U.S. workers employed full or part time belong to a labor union, according to recent Gallup polling.
More generally, 8% of all U.S. adults -- working and nonworking -- say they hold labor union membership, while 14% of U.S. adults live in a union household.
An analysis of Gallup's 2023-2024 Work and Education surveys finds the following demographic differences in union membership among U.S. workers:
- A little more than one in four workers employed by the government (28%) belong to a union, versus 6% of all private-sector employees.
- Workers in the South are the least likely of any U.S. region to report labor union membership, at 3%. That is less than half of the percentages reported by employees in the East (15%), Midwest (9%) and West (12%).
- Eleven percent of workers reporting an annual household income of $100,000 or more are members of a union, compared with 7% of those in households earning between $40,000 and $99,999 annually and 3% in households earning less than $40,000 per year.
- Across age groups, union membership is lower among the youngest workers, at 5% among those aged 18 to 34, compared with 10% of workers aged 35 to 54 and 11% of those 55 and older.
- The more educated an employee is, the more likely they are to be a union worker. The rate is highest, at 15%, among workers with a postgraduate education. Workers with a high school diploma or less (5%) are the least likely to be union members.
- There are no significant differences in labor union membership across gender or political party groups.
Gallup measures labor union membership each August as part of its Work and Education poll -- one of 12 surveys that make up the Gallup Poll Social Series.
Explore more Gallup articles about labor unions on the Unions Topics page.
Explore Gallup questions and trends about labor unions on Gallup's Topics A-Z: Labor Unions page.
For more articles in the "Short Answer" series, visit Gallup's The Short Answer page.
