| Union Members | Self-Employed | |
| Alabama | 191,000 | 350,000 |
| Alaska | 65,000 | 51,000 |
| Arizona | 162,000 | 394,000 |
| Arkansas | 47,000 | 332,000 |
| California | 2,453,000 | 2,745,000 |
| Colorado | 153,000 | 440,000 |
| Connecticut | 265,000 | 251,000 |
| Delaware | 44,000 | 52,000 |
| Florida | 411,000 | 1,647,000 |
| Georgia | 177,000 | 778,000 |
| Hawaii | 124,000 | 97,000 |
| Idaho | 36,000 | 130,000 |
| Illinois | 957,000 | 939,000 |
| Indiana | 277,000 | 420,000 |
| Iowa | 157,000 | 279,000 |
| Kansas | 77,000 | 234,000 |
| Kentucky | 143,000 | 344,000 |
| Louisiana | 99,000 | 340,000 |
| Maine | 63,000 | 117,000 |
| Maryland | 322,000 | 421,000 |
| Massachusetts | 476,000 | 484,000 |
| Michigan | 710,000 | 713,000 |
| Minnesota | 362,000 | 435,000 |
| Mississippi | 49,000 | 222,000 |
| Missouri | 234,000 | 475,000 |
| Montana | 52,000 | 106,000 |
| Nebraska | 76,000 | 159,000 |
| Nevada | 173,000 | 179,000 |
| New Hampshire | 67,000 | 104,000 |
| New Jersey | 721,000 | 579,000 |
| New Mexico | 51,000 | 137,000 |
| New York | 2,019,000 | 1,522,000 |
| North Carolina | 115,000 | 666,000 |
| North Dakota | 21,000 | 74,000 |
| Ohio | 685,000 | 765,000 |
| Oklahoma | 83,000 | 364,000 |
| Oregon | 250,000 | 284,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 782,000 | 782,000 |
| Rhode Island | 80,000 | 69,000 |
| South Carolina | 59,000 | 287,000 |
| South Dakota | 20,000 | 84,000 |
| Tennessee | 121,000 | 499,000 |
| Texas | 508,000 | 2,077,000 |
| Utah | 79,000 | 191,000 |
| Vermont | 35,000 | 65,000 |
| Virginia | 166,000 | 531,000 |
| Washington | 574,000 | 425,000 |
| West Virginia | 97,000 | 108,000 |
| Wisconsin | 385,000 | 379,000 |
| Wyoming | 19,000 | 51,000 |
| District of Columbia | 27,000 | 43,000 |
The statistics on the number of union members (PDF) are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau site.
The statistics on the numbers of self-employed are also based on the U.S. Census Bureau site. These state-by-state self-employed numbers are compiled from tax returns of businesses that have no employees. These statistics do not include approximately 1.5 million sole proprietorships that do have employees (employing about 5.6 million), nor do they include businesses involved in agricultural production; therefore, farmers are not included in the Census Bureau numbers. Currently, there are about 2.1 million self-employed farmers in the United States, 90% of whom are self-employed. When statistically significant, I have included farmers in the numbers of self-employed printed here, based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I have not included the 1.5 million sole proprietors with employees, because a state-by-state breakdown was not available.
Lastly, the numbers of self-employed identified here are based on tax returns. Consequently, many millions of potential self-employed voters are left out of the numbers included here. Most of these missing self-employed fall into the following four categories:
- Spouses in self-employed businesses where the husband and wife work together as partners, but only one spouse is listed on tax returns as working in the business—for instance, a family farm where the husband and wife work together, but the wife appears on the tax return only as “housewife”.
- Self-employed people who do not file tax returns. Self-employed people who participate in the “black market” economy range from migrant farm workers to musicians. The majority participate in the black market economy because they cannot afford to pay the Self-Employment Tax. A self-employed person who earns only $10,000 is not likely to file a tax return which would require him or her to pay a $1,500 Self-Employment Tax.
- The 2.7 million corporations and partnerships that employ 1 to 4 people, and collectively employ 5.7 million Americans. Most of the owners of these small firms consider themselves self-employed, and share many of the same problems of the self-employed: high health insurance premiums, lack of access to Small Business Administration Loans, expensive regulatory burdens…
- In my opinion, the unemployed are self-employed. When a person loses his or her job, it is usually up to that person to make ends meet. This “activity” in securing sustenance can be viewed as self-employment.