This note describes the construction and provision of an Internet database providing private and public sector union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Economy-wide estimates are provided beginning in 1973, estimates by state, detailed industry, and detailed occupation begin in 1983, and estimates by metropolitan area begin in 1986. The database is updated annually and can be accessed at http://www.unionstats.com/.We thank Amy Hathaway of Trinity University for help in the construction of the Database web site.1The Current Population Survey (CPS) is the principal data source from which researchers compile and obtain information on union membership and coverage for states, metropolitan areas, industries, and occupations. This note provides information on the Union Membership and Coverage Database, which provides historical and current compilations of CPS estimates of unionization based on data and methods identical to those used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The Database is posted on the Internet and will be updated annually. It should prove to be a convenient and valuable resource for industrial relations and other social science researchers.

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Wage differential studies rare& account for interarea differences in cost of living, owing both to data limitations and theoretical ambiguity. This study develops a price index for 185 metropolitan areas comprising about 70% of the US. labor force. Current Population Survey data for 1985-95 and data on site-speci'c amenities are used to estimate earnings differentials based on nominal wages, wages fur& adjusted for measured cost of living, and a simple approximation of "real" wages with partial adjustment for price-level differences. Dispersion in approximate real wages across 185 labor markets and diferentials by region and city size are substantially lower than dispersion in nominal or full adjustment wages. Estimates of racial and ethnic differentials display moderate sensitivity to choice of a wage measure, whereas other standard differentials do not. Both nominal wages and wages fully adjusted for cost of living may provide misleading estimates of real wage differentials. Absent data on interarea prices and amenities, researchers should include detailed controls for region and city size in nominal wage equations. (JEL 531, R23)