Private Sector Unionization Rates in Selected States, 2025 Update
Brandon Wilkerson, Labor Market Analytics Director
Introduction
Private sector union membership in the U.S. varies widely by region, but South Carolina is consistently ranked as having one of the lowest private sector unionization rates (i.e., the percent of private sector employees with membership in a union).
Comparison of Rates
According to data gathered from the Current Population Survey and published on unionstats.com,[1] South Carolina’s 2024 private sector unionization rate was 1.5 percent, the second lowest of all states, trailing only South Dakota (at 1.3 percent). South Carolina’s 2024 rate was below North Carolina’s (1.6 percent) and Georgia’s (2.2 percent) rates for the same year. See the table below for a breakdown of unionization rates in those and other selected states.
2024 | |
State | Union Members as a Percent of All Private Employees |
South Carolina | 1.5% |
Alabama | 4.4% |
California | 7.9% |
Georgia | 2.2% |
Hawaii | 15.2% |
Michigan | 10.4% |
New York | 11.4% |
North Carolina | 1.6% |
Ohio | 7.9% |
Pennsylvania | 6.8% |
South Dakota | 1.3% |
Source: Current Population Survey via U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and unionstats.com
Conclusion
In the private sector, 2024 union membership in South Carolina is rare at 1.5 percent, so the vast majority (estimated 98.5 percent) of South Carolinians working in the private sector are not unionized. The state’s unionization rate ranks as the lowest in the southeast region and the second lowest nationwide.