Private Sector Unionization Rates in Selected States
By Brandon Wilkerson, Labor Market Analytics Director
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 2023 private sector unionization rate was 1.6%, the lowest of all states for that year. South Carolina’s 2023 rate was approximately half of Georgia’s rate for the same year (2.9%) and a tenth of Hawaii’s rate (15.2%). See the table below for a breakdown of unionization rates in those and other selected states.
|
2023 |
|
|
State |
Union Members as a Percent of All Private Employees |
|
South Carolina |
1.6% |
|
Alabama |
4.6% |
|
California |
8.8% |
|
Georgia |
2.9% |
|
Hawaii |
15.2% |
|
Michigan |
9.7% |
|
New York |
12.2% |
|
North Carolina |
1.9% |
|
Ohio |
7.0% |
|
Pennsylvania |
7.8% |
Conclusion
In the private sector, union membership in South Carolina is rare at 1.6%, so the vast majority (estimated 98.4%) of South Carolinians are not unionized in that sector. And, compared to other states in the southeast and nationwide, South Carolina’s unionization rate is the lowest.
[1] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t05.htm