The US jobs with the highest union membership rates

Map of union membership by state

In the United States, unions exist across the entire country, but some states have more union members than others. Multiple reasons exist: from policy differences across states, to industrial and cultural influences. Want to learn more? Find out which state has the highest percentage of union membership, and which one has the lowest, through this map.

Union membership was 9.9% in 2024, the lowest in nearly 40 years

In 1983, for comparison, 20.1% of the US workforce was unionized, or 17.7 million people.

A list of US labor unions

Maybe you’ve heard of the Teamsters, the trucking union that's among the most well-known labor unions in the US. But you might not have heard of the National Association of Letter Carriers. As it turns out, there can be a union for almost every profession, no matter how niche.

Do unions still work?

Workers everywhere from Starbucks to Uber have made headlines about unionizing—and some union experts argue that despite union membership being lower than it was in eras past, unions could still help the economy.

Most common jobs in the US

Most US government organizations list roughly 500 primary occupations that most Americans fall into, such as teachers and cashiers. Using data from the 2018 through 2022 American Community Survey, these graphics break down the most common jobs in the US by age, gender, and more. See the graphics here.

The college degrees with the highest unemployment rates, visualized

Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows which college degrees have had the highest unemployment rates in the US as of May 2025. Degrees in anthropology, physics, and computer engineering ranked high on the list.

Pros and cons of unions

While unions require fees and can make promoting high-performing workers and letting go of lower-performing ones more difficult in some workplaces, they have their positive aspects too. Labor unions tend to increase pay and benefits for employees, for instance.

The economic impact of the Hollywood strikes

The 2023 strikes in Hollywood resulted in significant wins for the WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA unions. Workers were promised to receive bonuses that allowed them to benefit from high-performing streaming shows and films. This article shares how the rewards have been distributed to union members since their implementation. See a breakdown of the bonuses for each union, how the industry has improved, and the challenges some members still face.

The first recorded worker strike in the United States happened in 1768

That year, journeymen tailors went on strike to protest a wage reduction. By 1794, cobblers in Philadelphia formed the nation’s first trade union, the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers. But that’s just the beginning of labor union history in the US.

Find out which occupations have the highest and lowest divorce rates

Bus drivers have a fairly high divorce rate, with 48% of them being either divorced, separated, or married more than once. Actuaries have a much lower divorce rate at only 14%.

See how the income taxes in the US compare to other countries

The US's highest marginal income tax rate is 37%. That rate is compared to other countries' both in a map and accompanying chart. Denmark has the highest rate at nearly 56%, while a handful of countries don't use marginal taxes at all. In the Middle East, many countries count on oil and gas to finance their governments.

Facts and figures on the largest credit unions

As of early 2024, credit unions had $2.31T in assets under management and were growing exponentially. Some of the biggest players limit access to military personnel, residents of specific states, and those with active religious affiliations. If you want to bank with some of the top names in the US, this list will help you check to see if you qualify.

Despite earning less than most tech workers, educators have one of the highest rates of homeownership

Annual income largely determines homeownership. In the US, 72% of people in management roles own a home, but educators, who on average earn much less than those working in business, have the second-highest rate of homeownership.

Despite the popularity of podcasts, most US adults still listen to radio

A 2026 survey found that 84% of adults aged 25-64 report listening to the radio weekly. That's more than double the number of those who listen to podcasts.

NBA players are the best paid athletes in major US sports

The NFL is the most valuable pro league in the world, but its players aren’t making nearly as much as NBA players. This CNBC video dives into how league structure, salary cap, and guaranteed contracts define how much an athlete will make, and shows how NBA players are able to use those to get almost double the average annual salary of other pro leagues.

Texas is the state with the most energy sector employees

Texas has more than 990,000 individuals in the energy sector—roughly eight out of every 100 workers statewide. Oil and natural gas production account for more than 289,000 workers.

Learn about the bodies that govern the US commercial airline industry, such as the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates US air travel, monitoring both safety and advancement. But despite deregulation in the 1970s, the industry has other governing bodies, too, including the US Department of Transportation and the TSA.

Advertising-related activity may have supported roughly one in five American jobs as of 2024

That’s according to a study commissioned by The Advertising Coalition, conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence, which also found that the advertising industry powered more than 20% of total US economic output at the time.

Americans are historically more supportive of free speech than people in most other countries

A 2016 survey of 38 countries found that the US scored highest in support for free expression, with 71% of Americans saying people should be able to say what they want without government censorship, more than in any other nation surveyed.

The steps to the railroad industry's bargaining process

It often takes years for management and labor to come to terms for each five-year agreement. Learn how collective bargaining works for this highly-regulated industry.

The best US cities for entry-level jobs with livable wages

In Bakersfield, California, 100% of entry-level job ads on Indeed recently claimed to pay above the local living wage. But other cities, like Honolulu, Hawaii, aren't as livable for entry-level workers: Just 27.69% of new job posts advertise a salary in line with the city's living wage.

The world's top streaming services (by subscriber count)

With almost 270 million paying users, Netflix is the dominant force in streaming entertainment. But after enjoying a first-mover advantage for years, competitors are beginning to catch up. Most notable is Amazon, which leverages its Prime subscriptions to bundle Prime Video, and has amassed an estimated 200 million users. See an updated tracker of the world's biggest platforms by audience.

Explore a list of well-known monopolies

Many American monopolies popped up during the rapid industrial growth of the Gilded Age. Industries like steel, tobacco, railroads, and telecommunication have all been monopolized at some point in history.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks 30 large U.S. companies from all major U.S. sectors except for utilities and transportation. It's considered a bellwether of the U.S. economy.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Learn how helium is used in the US, the world's largest producer of the noble gas

About 44% of the global supply comes from the US, as much as the next two biggest producers—Qatar and Russia—combined. According to the US Geological Survey, more than half of this helium is used in scientific and engineering equipment (22%), non-welding-related manufacturing and fabrication (17%), and as a lifting agent (17%).

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.