Figure H: As union membership declines, income inequality increases

Union membership and share of income going to the top 10%, 1917–2024

Notes: Data prior to 1983 report union density as a share of non-agricultural employment while more recent data report union density as a share of overall employment to remain consistent with government reporting. The small difference based on alternative methods has no bearing on the economic findings shown. 
Source: Data on union membership from Freeman (1997) from 1917 to 1982, updated to the present using Economic Policy Institute, State of Working America Data Library, "Union membership - Share in a union," 2026. Income inequality data (top 10% share of pre-tax income) are from the World Inequality Database.Get the dataDownload imageCreated with Datawrapper