Employment in the U.S. nonprofit sector has grown
faster than overall employment in 46 of the 50 states,
according to a new report by the Nonprofit Employment Data
Project at the Johns Hopkins Center for
Civil Society Studies.
As of the second quarter of 2004, the latest year for
which data on nonprofit employment are available, American
charities employed 9.4 million paid workers and engaged
another 4.7 million full-time equivalent volunteer workers
for a total work force of more than 14 million workers.
Between 2002 and 2004, the nonprofit work force grew
by 5.3 percent, with both the paid and volunteer portions
growing by more than 5 percent. By contrast, overall
employment in the economy declined by 0.2 percent during
this period.
"The nonprofit work force, including volunteers, now
represents 10.5 percent of the country's total work force,"
said Lester M. Salamon, director of the Center for Civil
Society Studies within the Johns Hopkins
Institute for Policy Studies and a leading expert on
nonprofits. "Put in perspective, this means that American
charities boast a larger work force than the utility,
wholesale trade and construction industries combined."
Other findings of the report include the following:
The nonprofit share of the total
work force is especially high in the Northeast and Midwest,
where it ranges from 10.7 to more than 14 percent. In the
South and West, the nonprofit work force accounts for a
considerable 8.1 percent to 9.5 percent of the total work
force.
Nonprofit-paid workers received
$321.6 billion in wages in 2004, more than the wages paid
by the utility ($50.1 billion), wholesale trade ($283.7
billion) and construction ($276 billion) industries, and
almost as much as by the finance and insurance industry
($355.8 billion).
Charitable nonprofit employment is
scattered across a wide variety of fields, from information
and scientific services to religious and civic
associations. The bulk of this employment, however, is in
human services, with hospitals accounting for one-third of
all nonprofit employment and other health providers, such
as clinics and nursing homes, accounting for another 21
percent.
The average weekly wage in the
nonprofit sector, at $627, was well below the $669 average
in the for-profit sector. However, in the fields where
nonprofits and for-profits are both actively engaged,
average nonprofit wages were actually higher. For example,
average wages among nonprofit hospital workers were 7
percent higher than those of for-profit hospital workers,
and average wages among nonprofit social assistance workers
were 25 percent higher than those of their for-profit
counterparts.
The private nonprofit sector comprises private
universities, schools, hospitals, clinics, day-care
centers, social service providers, symphonies, museums, art
galleries, theaters, environmental organizations and many
others eligible for tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Nonprofit Employment Data Project at the Johns
Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies seeks to quantify
the size and scope of nonprofit employment throughout the
United States. The data in this report draw on the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, assembled by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and on the special
tabulation on voluntary work conducted as part of the
Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.
To view the entire report, including a state-by-state
breakdown of nonprofit employment, go to
www.jhu.edu/ccss/research/bulletins.htm.
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