14.7M in US Belong to a Union

A total of 14.7 million workers belong to a labor union in the United States.

That represents 10.5 percent of all workers, down slightly from 10.7 percent a year ago.

The decline is more dramatic over time. In 1983, the first year the Bureau of Labor Statistics kept such data, 20.1 percent of workers belonged to a union.

Today, union membership is much more common among government workers than in the private sector. Among those on the public payroll, 34 percent belong to a union.

In the private sector, just 6 percent are union members.

Hawaii has the highest rate of union membership at 23 percent, followed closely by New York at 22 percent.

North and South Carolina are tied for the lowest level of union membership at just under 3%.

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.