Contents
- Civil society organization employment statistics: workforce size and share over time
- Civil society organization employment statistics: where nonprofit jobs are concentrated
- Civil society organization employment statistics: regional and state differences
- Civil society organization employment statistics: worker demographics and education
- civil society organization employment: pay, occupations, and employment conditions
- civil society organization employment: Staffing changes, vacancies, and hiring plans at nonprofit organizations
- Sources
Civil society organization employment statistics: workforce size and share over time
Civil society organization employment statistics often use “nonprofit” as a measurable category, but the available sources do not all count the same workforce. The Current Population Survey (CPS) figures describe U.S. wage and salary workers who report nonprofit employment. Establishment tabulations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) use a narrower group of private-sector establishments identified as 501(c)(3). Those definitions matter when interpreting levels and shares: a worker-based estimate and an establishment-based count answer related, but distinct, questions. Neither set should be read as a complete measure of every organization that might be described more broadly as part of civil society. BLS, “Nonprofit earnings and sectoral employment in the United States since 1994”; BLS, “Nonprofits: a look at national trends in establishment size and employment”
The CPS series shows a larger nonprofit wage and salary workforce in each of the selected years below than in 1994. It rose from 5,438.1 thousand in 1994 to 8,782.4 thousand in 2009, then stood at 9,950.7 thousand in 2019 and 10,216.5 thousand in 2022. The corresponding share of all U.S. wage and salary employment was 5.0 percent in 1994, 7.1 percent in 2009, and 7.2 percent in 2022. The source supplies no 2019 share in the checked observations, so the employment count is reported on its own rather than paired with a missing share. These are historical annual estimates, not current-year workforce totals. BLS, “Nonprofit earnings and sectoral employment in the United States since 1994”
| Year | U.S. nonprofit wage and salary employment (thousands) | Share of U.S. wage and salary employment |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 5,438.1 | 5.0% |
| 2009 | 8,782.4 | 7.1% |
| 2019 | 9,950.7 | — |
| 2022 | 10,216.5 | 7.2% |
A separate BLS establishment measure puts nonprofit employment at 12,488,563 jobs in 2017, or 10.2 percent of U.S. private-sector employment. The same account says 501(c)(3) nonprofits represented 3.1 percent of private-sector establishments that year. The contrast between the employment share and establishment share indicates that the counted nonprofit establishments accounted for a larger portion of jobs than of establishments. It does not establish why that pattern exists, and it should not be merged directly with the CPS series: the population, classification, and measure differ. BLS, “Nonprofits: a look at national trends in establishment size and employment”
Civil society organization employment statistics: where nonprofit jobs are concentrated
Nonprofit jobs were concentrated in a small number of broad industries in the 2017 private-sector distribution. Health care and social assistance accounted for 66.7 percent of nonprofit employment, while educational services accounted for 16.2 percent. Other services represented 6.7 percent, arts, entertainment, and recreation 2.9 percent, and all remaining industries together 7.5 percent. This distribution describes where private-sector nonprofit employment was located in that year; it is not a count of organizations or a distribution of nonprofit revenue. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
| Industry, 2017 | Share of nonprofit employment |
|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 66.7% |
| Educational services | 16.2% |
| Other services | 6.7% |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 2.9% |
| All remaining industries | 7.5% |
A different view asks what proportion of each industry’s private-sector employment was nonprofit. In 2017, nonprofits represented 70.9 percent of educational services employment and 43.0 percent of health care and social assistance employment. The nonprofit shares were 18.9 percent in other services and 15.5 percent in arts, entertainment, and recreation. These percentages use each industry’s employment as the denominator, unlike the first table, which uses total nonprofit employment. The two views are complementary: one shows how nonprofit jobs are distributed across sectors; the other shows the nonprofit contribution within selected industries. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
Establishment size also varied markedly across selected industries. In 2017, nonprofit hospitals averaged 814 jobs per establishment, while nonprofit social assistance establishments averaged 23 jobs. These are averages for the specific industry and establishment categories, not typical staffing levels for every hospital or social assistance organization. The large difference helps explain why counting establishments alone can convey a different picture from counting jobs: an establishment in one sector may contain many more jobs than one in another. BLS, “Nonprofits: a look at national trends in establishment size and employment”
Civil society organization employment statistics: regional and state differences
The nonprofit share of private employment differed by U.S. Census region in 2022. It was 15.5 percent in the Northeast and 11.3 percent in the Midwest, compared with 8.1 percent in the West and 7.6 percent in the South. The national figure was 9.9 percent. These are regional proportions of total private employment, not nonprofit employment levels or shares of all workers including public-sector employment. BLS, “Nonprofit organizations: state and regional employment trends”
| Region or area, 2022 | Nonprofit share of private employment |
|---|---|
| Northeast | 15.5% |
| Midwest | 11.3% |
| West | 8.1% |
| South | 7.6% |
| United States | 9.9% |
The state estimates show additional variation. Among the reported high-share examples, the District of Columbia was at 25.2 percent; Vermont, 19.8 percent; Massachusetts, 17.6 percent; Maine, 17.2 percent; and New York, 17.0 percent. Pennsylvania was at 15.7 percent, Connecticut at 15.1 percent, Alaska at 14.6 percent, and New Hampshire at 14.3 percent. Each figure is nonprofit employment as a percentage of total private employment in that jurisdiction in 2022. BLS, “Nonprofit organizations: state and regional employment trends”
The lower-share examples in the same state chart include Nevada at 2.8 percent, Alabama at 4.8 percent, Texas at 5.1 percent, and Tennessee at 7.7 percent in 2022. The spread across these selected jurisdictions is descriptive; it does not by itself identify the institutional, economic, or demographic factors behind the differences. State percentages also should not be interpreted as a ranking of the absolute number of nonprofit jobs: a share depends on the size and composition of the private-sector employment denominator. The reported values provide a way to compare employment mix, not total workforce scale. BLS, “Nonprofit organizations: state and regional employment trends”
Civil society organization employment statistics: worker demographics and education
BLS demographic estimates describe the composition of private nonprofit workers in 2022. Women accounted for 66.1 percent. The table reported 77.4 percent in the category labeled White, 12.6 percent Black or African American, and 10.4 percent Hispanic or Latino. Foreign-born workers accounted for 11.9 percent. These are separate demographic measures; race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity categories should not be treated as mutually exclusive without the source’s specific classification rules. The figures describe workers, not the leadership of organizations or the populations served. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
Education data cover employed private nonprofit workers age 25 and older, rather than all workers. In 2022, 32.7 percent had an advanced degree, defined in the source as a master’s, professional, or doctoral degree. Another 31.9 percent had a bachelor’s degree only. The source also reports that 1.7 percent had less than a high school diploma. These selected categories give useful reference points, but they do not enumerate every educational attainment level here. They should not be read as a credential requirement for nonprofit work or as evidence that education caused employment in the sector. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
Together, the profile and education estimates suggest that the private nonprofit workforce in 2022 included a substantial share of women and workers with bachelor’s or advanced degrees, while the measured demographic categories also include workers across racial, ethnic, and nativity groups. The word “profile” matters: percentages do not reveal how workers were distributed across occupations, employers, hours, or job levels. Nor do they establish whether a given characteristic is more or less common in every nonprofit subsector. The estimates aggregate a broad private nonprofit category, so comparisons at the organization or local level would require more specific data. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
civil society organization employment: pay, occupations, and employment conditions
For full-time wage and salary workers in private nonprofits, excluding self-employed workers, median usual weekly earnings were $1,163 in 2022. This is a median weekly amount, not an average, annual salary, or measure of total compensation. Within the same table, the median was $1,347 for men and $1,101 for women. The table’s group-specific medians are descriptive figures; they do not adjust for occupation, industry, hours beyond full-time status, tenure, or other characteristics. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
The same 2022 earnings table reports $1,176 as the median usual weekly earnings for full-time White private nonprofit workers, $954 for Black or African American workers, and $1,006 for Hispanic or Latino workers. All figures are dollars per week and refer to full-time wage and salary workers, excluding self-employed workers. The source table labels the race category “White”; the value should be retained as labeled rather than extended into a more detailed definition. Differences between group medians are not, on their own, evidence about the reasons for those differences or a direct measure of pay for equal work. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
| Full-time private nonprofit wage and salary workers, 2022 | Median usual weekly earnings |
|---|---|
| Total | $1,163 |
| Men | $1,347 |
| Women | $1,101 |
| White | $1,176 |
| Black or African American | $954 |
| Hispanic or Latino | $1,006 |
The checked occupational information does not supply occupation-by-occupation employment counts or pay, so the industry distribution should not be mistaken for an occupation profile. It shows that health care and social assistance held most private nonprofit jobs in 2017, but does not specify how many workers were clinicians, administrators, support staff, or in other roles. Likewise, weekly earnings medians cannot establish benefits, paid leave, schedule stability, or employment security. Those are distinct aspects of employment conditions and are not measured by the figures reported here. BLS, “Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data”
civil society organization employment: Staffing changes, vacancies, and hiring plans at nonprofit organizations
A Tennessee-focused Urban Institute study reports nonprofit organizations’ staffing plans as of early 2025 for the following 12 months. In Tennessee, 43 percent planned to hire new staff, 7 percent planned layoffs, 4 percent expected staff loss from retirement, and 9 percent expected loss from voluntary turnover other than retirement. The estimates are weighted survey results about reported intentions. They describe what organizations said they planned or expected at that time, not hiring or departures that were later confirmed. Urban Institute, “Recent Shifts in the Tennessee Nonprofit Workforce: Findings from the Nonprofit Trends and Impacts Study”
For peer states, 36 percent of nonprofits planned to hire, 7 percent planned layoffs, 6 percent expected retirement-related staff loss, and 11 percent expected loss from voluntary turnover other than retirement. The national weighted estimates were 38 percent planning to hire, 7 percent planning layoffs, 7 percent expecting retirement-related loss, and 12 percent expecting other voluntary turnover. The peer-state and U.S. figures provide context for Tennessee’s responses, but should not be treated as realized workforce changes or as a forecast of net employment. The categories are reported intentions, and the source figures do not provide a realized outcome for the subsequent period. Urban Institute, “Recent Shifts in the Tennessee Nonprofit Workforce: Findings from the Nonprofit Trends and Impacts Study”
| Staffing plans reported in early 2025 for the next 12 months | Tennessee | Peer states | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planned to hire new staff | 43% | 36% | 38% |
| Planned layoffs | 7% | 7% | 7% |
| Expected staff loss from retirement | 4% | 6% | 7% |
| Expected loss from voluntary turnover other than retirement | 9% | 11% | 12% |
Across all three groups, the share reporting plans to hire was larger than the share reporting plans for layoffs, while expected losses from voluntary turnover other than retirement were reported more often than retirement-related losses. These comparisons summarize survey responses only. The measures may overlap at the organization level: an organization could anticipate turnover and also plan to hire, for example. The percentages therefore should not be added or subtracted to construct a net employment change. They are best read as separate indicators of staffing needs and expected departures as respondents described them in early 2025. Urban Institute, “Recent Shifts in the Tennessee Nonprofit Workforce: Findings from the Nonprofit Trends and Impacts Study”
Sources
- Nonprofit earnings and sectoral employment in the United States since 1994
- Nonprofits: a look at national trends in establishment size and employment
- Nonprofit organizations: state and regional employment trends
- Celebrating National Nonprofit Day with BLS Data
- Recent Shifts in the Tennessee Nonprofit Workforce: Findings from the Nonprofit Trends and Impacts Study