Left politics and labor / Union Membership and Coverage Database
Union Membership and Coverage Database
Worker poweractive
The archive's reading. none stated. The archive reads the database as the measure of the base a labor organization stands on, held by independent academics outside any union; it counts members and keeps none of their positions.
| Kind | an Internet data resource of union membership, coverage and density estimates, published as historical tables |
|---|---|
| Operator | Barry Hirsch (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University), David Macpherson (Department of Economics, Trinity University) and William Even (Department of Economics, Miami University) |
| Unit of record | an estimate of union membership, coverage, density and employment (and union and nonunion wages) for a cell: a sector by demographic group, state, metropolitan area, industry or occupation, by year |
| What it records | private and public sector labor union membership, coverage and density in the United States, and union wages, nonunion wages and union wage gaps, compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey |
| Whose record it keeps | the measured extent of union membership and coverage among wage and salary workers surveyed in the CPS |
| Who holds it | three academic economists, who compile and update the tables annually; use of the data requires citation |
| The losing side | not recorded |
| Method | survey microdata: estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS) using BLS methods |
| Coverage | geography: United States: economy-wide, by state, by metropolitan area, by industry and occupation; period: economy-wide from 1973; state, industry and occupation from 1983; metropolitan area from 1986; through 2025 |
| Count | value: not stated as a count of tables or estimates; as_of: compilations from the 2025 CPS completed 2026-01-23 |
| Holdings | historical tables of union membership, density and employment by sector and demographic group (1973-2025), by sector and state (1983-2025), by sector and metropolitan area (1986-2025), by industry (1983-2025) and by occupation (1983-2025); historical tables of union wages, nonunion wages and union wage gaps by sector and demographic group (headed 1973-2022, its table listed as 1973-2025); CPS information and supporting documentation |
| Stated limits | 'CPS sample sizes are very small for some cells. Use such estimates cautiously.' |
| Data access | historical tables on unionstats.com; use of data requires citation (Hirsch, Macpherson and Even 2026); email for support |
| Licence | not stated as a licence; '© 2026. Use of data requires citation.' |
| Lifecycle | state: active; detail: created in 2002 and updated annually; compilations from the 2025 CPS completed 23 January 2026 |
| Founded | 2002 |
What its record can settle
- what share of workers in a sector, state, metropolitan area, industry, occupation or demographic group were union members or covered by a contract in a year
- how union density has changed since 1973 (economy-wide) or 1983 (by state)
- the union wage gap by sector and demographic group
What it cannot settle
- which unions the members belong to
- strikes or other labor action
- what members think of their unions, or any dissent or division inside them
Kept apart
- NOT official BLS statistics: it is compiled by academics from the CPS using BLS methods
- NOT reliable for small cells, by its own note
- NOT a record of labor action or of opinion inside unions
Evidence
- self_description (the resource's own statement):
is an Internet data resource providing private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS) using BLS methods.
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - title (the resource's own statement):
Documentation for the Union Membership and Coverage Database
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - aka (the resource's own statement):
Union Membership, Coverage, and Earnings from the CPS
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - coverage_period (the resource's own statement):
Economy-wide estimates are provided beginning in 1973; estimates by state, detailed industry, and detailed occupation begin in 1983; and estimates by metropolitan area begin in 1986.
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - operator (the resource's own statement):
constructed by Barry Hirsch (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University), David Macpherson (Department of Economics, Trinity University), and William Even (Department of Economics, Miami University),was created in 2002 and is updated annually.
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - latest (the resource's own statement):
Union data compilations from the 2025 CPS completed January 23, 2026.
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - limit_cells (the resource's own statement):
CPS sample sizes are very small for some cells. Use such estimates cautiously.
https://www.unionstats.com/main.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 964e3fe9de60a600… - tables_demographic (the resource's own statement):
By Sector and Demographic Group: 1973-2025
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_state (the resource's own statement):
By Sector and State: 1983-2025
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_metro (the resource's own statement):
By Sector and Metropolitan Area: 1986-2025
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_industry (the resource's own statement):
By Industry: 1983-2025
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_occupation (the resource's own statement):
By Occupation: 1983-2025
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_membership (the resource's own statement):
I. Historical Tables: Union Membership, Density and Employment
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - tables_wages (the resource's own statement):
II. Historical Tables: Union Wages, Nonunion Wages, and Union Wage Gaps, 1973-2022
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - documentation (the resource's own statement):
III. CPS Information and Supporting Documentation.
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - citation_required (the resource's own statement):
Use of data requires citation.
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - citation (the resource's own statement):
Hirsch, Barry T., David A. Macpherson, and William E. Even (2026). Union Membership, Coverage, and Earnings from the CPS.
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d… - support (the resource's own statement):
Email for support or questions
https://www.unionstats.com/contents.htm · read 2026-10-31 · http 200 · sha256 955afb6134469f6d…
Unchecked
the home page itself (a frameset with almost no text; its content is in the two frames read here); the historical tables and their figures; the CPS information and supporting documentation pages; the definitions of membership and coverage used (not in the saved frames)
Cite: Lee Sharks, ed. "Union Membership and Coverage Database." Mary Lee Labor meta-aggregator: left politics and labor, maryleelabor.org, compiled 2026-10-31. https://www.maryleelabor.org/aggregators/unionstats