Union workers may be an endangered species.

They now account for only 12 percent of the workforce, down from about 20 percent three decades ago, according to recently released estimates from the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationally, unions represented nearly 16.3 million workers last year, a 1 percent decline from 2015.

States with the lowest union representation continue to be concentrated in the South and places with right-to-work laws, which allow employees to opt out of paying union dues. Organized labor is least prevalent in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, where fewer than 5 percent of workers are represented by unions.

State Union Representation Rate Union Represented Employees Union Membership Rate Union Members Alabama 9.0% 170,000 8.1% 153,000 Alaska 19.9% 59,000 18.5% 55,000 Arizona 5.5% 151,000 4.5% 122,000 Arkansas 5.0% 59,000 3.9% 47,000 California 17.5% 2,796,000 15.9% 2,551,000 Colorado 10.8% 263,000 9.8% 238,000 Connecticut 18.4% 288,000 17.5% 275,000 Delaware 13.3% 56,000 11.4% 48,000 District of Columbia 10.7% 37,000 9.5% 32,000 Florida 7.1% 574,000 5.6% 456,000 Georgia 4.9% 210,000 3.9% 165,000 Hawaii 20.9% 125,000 19.9% 119,000 Idaho 6.8% 47,000 6.1% 42,000 Illinois 15.3% 856,000 14.5% 812,000 Indiana 11.4% 335,000 10.4% 304,000 Iowa 10.5% 153,000 8.9% 129,000 Kansas 10.3% 132,000 8.6% 109,000 Kentucky 13.4% 228,000 11.1% 190,000 Louisiana 4.9% 88,000 4.2% 76,000 Maine 13.5% 77,000 11.4% 65,000 Maryland 12.3% 347,000 11.0% 310,000 Massachusetts 12.9% 407,000 12.1% 381,000 Michigan 15.5% 651,000 14.4% 606,000 Minnesota 15.2% 388,000 14.2% 365,000 Mississippi 8.1% 90,000 6.6% 73,000 Missouri 10.7% 290,000 9.7% 262,000 Montana 13.9% 58,000 11.9% 50,000 Nebraska 8.5% 74,000 7.4% 64,000 Nevada 15.0% 182,000 12.1% 146,000 New Hampshire 11.0% 74,000 9.4% 63,000 New Jersey 16.6% 666,000 16.1% 644,000 New Mexico 8.2% 64,000 6.3% 49,000 New York 25.2% 2,075,000 23.6% 1,942,000 North Carolina 4.1% 174,000 3.0% 129,000 North Dakota 7.0% 25,000 5.5% 20,000 Ohio 14.1% 702,000 12.4% 617,000 Oklahoma 6.6% 97,000 5.4% 80,000 Oregon 15.8% 267,000 13.5% 228,000 Pennsylvania 12.7% 724,000 12.1% 685,000 Rhode Island 16.9% 81,000 15.5% 74,000 South Carolina 2.6% 52,000 1.6% 32,000 South Dakota 7.0% 26,000 5.2% 20,000 Tennessee 6.4% 174,000 5.7% 158,000 Texas 5.3% 606,000 4.0% 462,000 Utah 6.0% 79,000 4.7% 62,000 Vermont 12.9% 37,000 11.5% 33,000 Virginia 6.0% 226,000 4.3% 160,000 Washington 18.7% 577,000 17.4% 539,000 West Virginia 13.2% 88,000 11.8% 79,000 Wisconsin 9.0% 244,000 8.1% 219,000 Wyoming 7.3% 18,000 6.3% 16,000

SOURCE: BLS, 2016 annual averages

Union representation have been slowly declining for years, but the drop has been much more noticeable in some states.

In South Carolina, an estimated 52,000 workers were represented by unions last year, which is about 40 percent less than just three years ago. Alabama, Alaska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin also all recorded declines exceeding 20 percent since 2013. In nearly half (21) of states, unions represent less than one in 10 workers.

The gradual decline of unions carries many potential ramifications for states’ economies.

In general, union workers tend to earn higher wages than their nonunionized peers. According to the Labor Department, without controlling for different occupations or other factors, nonunion workers make only 80 percent of union members' median weekly earnings.

Not all states are following the same downward trend, though.

In the South, Mississippi's union employees have doubled over the past two years. More recently, workers at a major Nissan assembly plant there are attempting to unionize. Colorado, Delaware and Utah also recorded sizable upticks in union representation last year, although their numbers were fairly low to begin with.

If there's one major union stronghold left, it's the public sector. Nationwide union representation for government workers is five times that of the private sector -- but it too has dropped in recent years.

According to the latest estimates, 32.8 percent of state government employees are represented by unions, compared to 35 percent five years ago. Local-level employment, which includes large numbers of public safety and school employees, similarly decreased from a rate of 46.6 percent to 43.9 percent of the workforce over the five-year period.

NOTE: Numbers referenced in this story include a small number of workers who are not union members but are represented by unions.

State Union Representation Rates