Table 1
States like Virginia with weak public-sector collective bargaining laws have larger public-sector pay gaps: Public-sector pay gaps, full-time wage and salary workers ages 18–64, September 2020–August 2025
| U.S., by collective bargaining rights | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | Virginia | Illegal | Permitted | Duty to bargain | |
| State and local government pay gap, controlling for age, education, hours worked, and year | -17.2% | -26.7% | -22.5% | -19.6% | -14.3% |
| …adding demographic controls (female, married, immigrant, race and ethnicity) | -15.8% | -23.9% | -20.1% | -18.2% | -13.4% |
Source: Authors' analysis of pooled and merged Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata (Economic Policy Institute 2025a and Flood et al. 2025). U.S. regressions include state controls.
This chart appears in:
- Unions can reduce the public-sector pay gap—an update
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- The public-sector pay gap is widening. Unions help shrink it.
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- Virginia governor’s amended collective bargaining bill would leave workers’ rights optional and large public-sector pay gap unaddressed
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