News Release Information
12-630-CHI
Monday, April 9, 2012
Contacts
Technical information:
- (312) 353-1880
- BLSInfoChicago@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro5
Media contact:
- (312) 353-1138
Union Membership in Illinois - 2011
In 2011, the number of workers belonging to a union in Illinois was 876,000, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that union members accounted for 16.2 percent of wage and salary workers in Illinois in 2011, compared with 15.5 percent a year earlier. Nationwide, union members accounted for 11.8 percent of wage and salary workers in 2011. At its peak in 1993, the union membership rate for the state was 21.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.)
Nationally, union members accounted for 11.8 percent of employed wage and salary workers, essentially unchanged from 11.9 percent in 2010. Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, Illinois has had union membership rates above the U.S. average. (See chart 1.)
In addition to Illinois's 876,000 wage and salary workers who were union members in 2011, another 53,000 wage and salary workers were represented by a union on their main job or were covered by an employee association or contract while not being union members themselves. (See table A.) Nationwide, 14.8 million wage and salary workers were union members in 2011 and 1.5 million workers were not affiliated with a union but had jobs covered by a union contract.
Year | Total employed | Members of unions (1) | Represented by unions (2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Percent of employed | Total | Percent of employed | ||
1989 |
5,015 | 1,045 | 20.8 | 1,145 | 22.8 |
1990 |
4,990 | 1,038 | 20.8 | 1,133 | 22.7 |
1991 |
4,950 | 1,035 | 20.9 | 1,117 | 22.6 |
1992 |
4,987 | 1,018 | 20.4 | 1,089 | 21.8 |
1993 |
4,980 | 1,046 | 21.0 | 1,118 | 22.5 |
1994 |
- | - | - | - | - |
1995 |
5,167 | 1,042 | 20.2 | 1,095 | 21.2 |
1996 |
5,224 | 1,043 | 20.0 | 1,125 | 21.5 |
1997 |
5,234 | 971 | 18.5 | 1,041 | 19.9 |
1998 |
5,328 | 1,004 | 18.9 | 1,064 | 20.0 |
1999 |
5,514 | 993 | 18.0 | 1,054 | 19.1 |
2000 |
5,726 | 1,049 | 18.3 | 1,107 | 19.3 |
2001 |
5,610 | 1,013 | 18.1 | 1,082 | 19.3 |
2002 |
5,445 | 1,069 | 19.6 | 1,119 | 20.6 |
2003 |
5,399 | 967 | 17.9 | 1,003 | 18.6 |
2004 |
5,410 | 908 | 16.8 | 971 | 17.9 |
2005 |
5,473 | 927 | 16.9 | 965 | 17.6 |
2006 |
5,684 | 931 | 16.4 | 979 | 17.2 |
2007 |
5,802 | 842 | 14.5 | 884 | 15.2 |
2008 |
5,662 | 939 | 16.6 | 993 | 17.5 |
2009 |
5,435 | 951 | 17.5 | 997 | 18.3 |
2010 |
5,434 | 844 | 15.5 | 891 | 16.4 |
2011 |
5,408 | 876 | 16.2 | 929 | 17.2 |
Footnotes: |
|||||
- Data not available |
In 2011, 21 states had union membership rates above the U.S. average, of which 12 had rates above 15.0
percent. (See table 1.) Of the 12 states with the highest rates, 4 were located in the Northeast, 3 in the
Midwest, and the remaining 5 bordered the Pacific Ocean. (See chart 2.) New York had the highest rate (24.1 percent),
followed by Alaska (22.1 percent), Hawaii (21.5 percent), and Washington (19.0 percent). In fact, New
York has had the highest membership rate in the nation for 15 of the past 17 years.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia had union membership rates below the national average
of 11.8 percent in 2011. Seven of these states, all in the south, had union membership rates below 5.0
percent, with North Carolina having the lowest, 2.9 percent. The next lowest rates were recorded in South
Carolina (3.4 percent), Georgia (3.9 percent), Arkansas (4.2 percent), Louisiana (4.5 percent), and
Tennessee and Virginia (4.6 percent each).
Over half of the 14.8 million union members in the United States lived in just 7 states (California,
2.4 million; New York, 1.9 million; Illinois, 0.9 million; Pennsylvania, 0.8 million; Michigan, 0.7 million;
and New Jersey and Ohio, 0.6 million each), though these states accounted for only one-third of wage
and salary employment nationally.
State union membership levels depend on both the union membership rate and the employment level. For
example, despite having 2.3 million fewer wage and salary employees statewide, New York had over four
times as many union members as Texas. Similarly, New Jersey, with 60,000 fewer wage and salary employees, had roughly four times as many union members in Georgia.
Technical Note
The estimates in this release are obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides the
basic information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The survey is conducted monthly
for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau from a scientifically selected national
sample of about 60,000 households. The union membership and earnings data are tabulated from one-quarter
of the CPS monthly sample and are limited to wage and salary workers. All self-employed
workers are excluded.
Union membership data, particularly for levels, are not strictly comparable with data for earlier years
because of the introduction of updated population controls used in the CPS. For
technical documentation and related information, including reliability of the CPS estimates, see
www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.
For personal assistance or further information on union membership, as well as other Bureau data, contact
the Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. Information in this release will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200, TDD message referral phone
number: 1-800-877-8339.
The principal definitions used in this release are described briefly below.
Union members. Members of a labor union or an employee association similar to a union.
Represented by unions. Union members, as well as workers who have no union affiliation but whose jobs
are covered by a union or an employee association contract.
Wage and salary workers. Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or
piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors, but, for the purposes of
the union membership and earnings series, excludes all self-employed persons, regardless of whether or
not their businesses are incorporated.
State | 2010 | 2011 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total employed | Members of unions(1) |
Represented by unions(2) |
Total employed | Members of unions(1) |
Represented by unions(2) |
|||||
Total | Percent of employed | Total | Percent of employed | Total | Percent of employed | Total | Percent of employed | |||
Alabama |
1,809 | 183 | 10.1 | 203 | 11.2 | 1,781 | 178 | 10.0 | 193 | 10.8 |
Alaska |
295 | 68 | 22.9 | 73 | 24.8 | 306 | 68 | 22.1 | 73 | 23.7 |
Arizona |
2,507 | 161 | 6.4 | 203 | 8.1 | 2,493 | 149 | 6.0 | 183 | 7.3 |
Arkansas |
1,082 | 44 | 4.0 | 59 | 5.4 | 1,116 | 47 | 4.2 | 57 | 5.1 |
California |
13,892 | 2,431 | 17.5 | 2,578 | 18.6 | 13,931 | 2,379 | 17.1 | 2,532 | 18.2 |
Colorado |
2,130 | 140 | 6.6 | 171 | 8.0 | 2,186 | 179 | 8.2 | 203 | 9.3 |
Connecticut |
1,549 | 258 | 16.7 | 270 | 17.4 | 1,542 | 259 | 16.8 | 272 | 17.7 |
Delaware |
352 | 40 | 11.4 | 44 | 12.5 | 370 | 39 | 10.5 | 42 | 11.2 |
District of Columbia |
287 | 26 | 9.0 | 30 | 10.5 | 281 | 23 | 8.3 | 28 | 9.9 |
Florida |
7,033 | 392 | 5.6 | 488 | 6.9 | 7,283 | 460 | 6.3 | 557 | 7.6 |
Georgia |
3,792 | 153 | 4.0 | 191 | 5.0 | 3,876 | 153 | 3.9 | 185 | 4.8 |
Hawaii |
511 | 111 | 21.8 | 120 | 23.5 | 525 | 113 | 21.5 | 118 | 22.5 |
Idaho |
584 | 42 | 7.1 | 50 | 8.6 | 594 | 31 | 5.1 | 36 | 6.1 |
Illinois |
5,434 | 844 | 15.5 | 891 | 16.4 | 5,408 | 876 | 16.2 | 929 | 17.2 |
Indiana |
2,554 | 279 | 10.9 | 313 | 12.2 | 2,681 | 302 | 11.3 | 333 | 12.4 |
Iowa |
1,393 | 158 | 11.4 | 192 | 13.8 | 1,386 | 155 | 11.2 | 187 | 13.5 |
Kansas |
1,222 | 84 | 6.8 | 111 | 9.1 | 1,268 | 97 | 7.6 | 128 | 10.1 |
Kentucky |
1,642 | 147 | 8.9 | 166 | 10.1 | 1,678 | 150 | 8.9 | 173 | 10.3 |
Louisiana |
1,742 | 76 | 4.3 | 96 | 5.5 | 1,717 | 77 | 4.5 | 91 | 5.3 |
Maine |
543 | 63 | 11.6 | 71 | 13.0 | 554 | 63 | 11.3 | 74 | 13.4 |
Maryland |
2,558 | 296 | 11.6 | 329 | 12.9 | 2,549 | 316 | 12.4 | 348 | 13.7 |
Massachusetts |
2,866 | 415 | 14.5 | 446 | 15.6 | 2,882 | 422 | 14.6 | 445 | 15.4 |
Michigan |
3,806 | 627 | 16.5 | 659 | 17.3 | 3,838 | 671 | 17.5 | 703 | 18.3 |
Minnesota |
2,468 | 385 | 15.6 | 397 | 16.1 | 2,461 | 371 | 15.1 | 390 | 15.8 |
Mississippi |
1,037 | 46 | 4.5 | 58 | 5.6 | 1,081 | 54 | 5.0 | 73 | 6.8 |
Missouri |
2,469 | 244 | 9.9 | 274 | 11.1 | 2,531 | 275 | 10.9 | 316 | 12.5 |
Montana |
364 | 46 | 12.7 | 52 | 14.4 | 377 | 49 | 13.0 | 55 | 14.6 |
Nebraska |
813 | 75 | 9.3 | 96 | 11.8 | 828 | 65 | 7.9 | 83 | 10.0 |
Nevada |
1,012 | 151 | 15.0 | 170 | 16.8 | 1,050 | 154 | 14.6 | 175 | 16.6 |
New Hampshire |
622 | 63 | 10.2 | 73 | 11.7 | 617 | 68 | 11.1 | 77 | 12.5 |
New Jersey |
3,734 | 637 | 17.1 | 660 | 17.7 | 3,816 | 615 | 16.1 | 641 | 16.8 |
New Mexico |
750 | 55 | 7.3 | 72 | 9.7 | 726 | 49 | 6.8 | 65 | 9.0 |
New York |
8,078 | 1,959 | 24.2 | 2,099 | 26.0 | 7,920 | 1,906 | 24.1 | 2,068 | 26.1 |
North Carolina |
3,686 | 117 | 3.2 | 180 | 4.9 | 3,589 | 105 | 2.9 | 149 | 4.1 |
North Dakota |
313 | 23 | 7.4 | 28 | 9.1 | 318 | 20 | 6.3 | 27 | 8.6 |
Ohio |
4,787 | 655 | 13.7 | 702 | 14.7 | 4,813 | 647 | 13.4 | 706 | 14.7 |
Oklahoma |
1,418 | 77 | 5.5 | 99 | 6.9 | 1,458 | 94 | 6.4 | 113 | 7.7 |
Oregon |
1,515 | 245 | 16.2 | 268 | 17.7 | 1,574 | 270 | 17.1 | 286 | 18.1 |
Pennsylvania |
5,224 | 770 | 14.7 | 831 | 15.9 | 5,348 | 779 | 14.6 | 846 | 15.8 |
Rhode Island |
456 | 75 | 16.4 | 79 | 17.4 | 453 | 79 | 17.4 | 81 | 17.9 |
South Carolina |
1,713 | 80 | 4.6 | 107 | 6.2 | 1,726 | 59 | 3.4 | 86 | 5.0 |
South Dakota |
357 | 20 | 5.6 | 24 | 6.6 | 359 | 18 | 5.1 | 23 | 6.5 |
Tennessee |
2,477 | 115 | 4.7 | 142 | 5.8 | 2,504 | 115 | 4.6 | 139 | 5.6 |
Texas |
10,025 | 545 | 5.4 | 677 | 6.7 | 10,214 | 534 | 5.2 | 643 | 6.3 |
Utah |
1,144 | 75 | 6.5 | 96 | 8.4 | 1,150 | 67 | 5.8 | 82 | 7.1 |
Vermont |
289 | 34 | 11.8 | 40 | 13.6 | 290 | 35 | 12.0 | 39 | 13.5 |
Virginia |
3,473 | 161 | 4.6 | 196 | 5.7 | 3,550 | 163 | 4.6 | 198 | 5.6 |
Washington |
2,837 | 552 | 19.4 | 605 | 21.3 | 2,727 | 517 | 19.0 | 557 | 20.4 |
West Virginia |
677 | 100 | 14.8 | 111 | 16.5 | 672 | 93 | 13.8 | 102 | 15.2 |
Wisconsin |
2,508 | 355 | 14.2 | 380 | 15.1 | 2,538 | 339 | 13.3 | 358 | 14.1 |
Wyoming |
246 | 18 | 7.4 | 21 | 8.4 | 250 | 18 | 7.2 | 21 | 8.4 |
Footnotes: |
||||||||||
NOTE: Data refer to the sole or principal job of full- and part-time wage and salary workers. Excluded are all self-employed workers regardless of whether
or not their businesses are incorporated. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. |
Last Modified Date: April 9, 2012