Union Members in Virginia — 2023

In 2023, union members accounted for 4.3 percent of wage and salary workers in Virginia, compared with 3.7 percent in 2022,the union membership rate for the state was at its peak in 1992, when it averaged 9.3 percent, and at its low point in 2007 and 2022 at 3.7 percent.Nationwide, union members accounted for 10.0 percent of employed wage and salary workers in 2023. The rate was little changed from the previous year. Since 1989, when comparable state data became available, union membership rates in Virginia have been below the U.S. average union membership by at least 5 percentage points. Virginia had 176,000 union members in 2023. In addition to these members, another 50,000 wage and salary workers in Virginia were represented by a union on their main job or covered by an employee association or contract while not union members themselves.