Census-designated place · Union County, New Jersey

Union, New Jersey

Union is a census-designated place in Union County, New Jersey, part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area. It has 2,774 residents. Union, New Jersey has a quality-of-life score of 78 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,511 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Jersey it ranks #314 of 552 cities and towns. It ranks best on depression (low), distance to an airport (low) and suicide rate (low). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), unemployment rate (high) and average commute time (high).

78High

Quality-of-life score: #3,511 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Jersey: #314 of 552 in NJ
Population: 2,774 (2020-2024)
Land area: 0 mi²
Density: 10,876.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 3474478

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety79#3,291/15,637
Economy67#5,101/15,631
Housing29#10,593/14,977
Health87#1,962/15,609
Healthcare72#4,374/15,650
Environment41#9,120/15,453
Education72#4,457/15,649
Infrastructure65#5,406/15,650
Community76#3,699/15,651
Leisure & amenities70#4,630/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Union, New Jersey ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Union County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Depression · low14.7%
99/100New Jersey 15.6%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an airport · low7 mi
98/100New Jersey 21 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauUnion County value
Suicide rate · low5.8 /100k
98/100New Jersey 8.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataUnion County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high99.6%
98/100New Jersey 95.9%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteUnion County value
Public transit commuters · high9.4%
97/100New Jersey 8.1%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
96/100New Jersey 11 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauUnion County value

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.53%
1/100New Jersey 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Unemployment rate · high16.3%
2/100New Jersey 5.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Average commute time · high30.4 min
10/100New Jersey 30.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Comfortable days · low23.8%
20/100New Jersey 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationUnion County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high14.3%
20/100New Jersey 9.0%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
High school diploma or higher · low78.1%
27/100New Jersey 90.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
2,591 (2016-2020) → 2,774 (2020-2024)
+7.1%4 yearsCensus table B01003US 331,578,104 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
73.9% (2016-2020) → 36.4% (2020-2024)
−37 pts4 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.1% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2016-2020) → 27.4% (2020-2024)
−24 pts4 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.6% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$92,232 (2016-2020) → $182,730 (2020-2024)
+98%4 yearsCensus table B19013US $67,340 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
45.5% (2016-2020) → 36.2% (2020-2024)
−9.4 pts4 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.9% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
86.8% (2016-2020) → 78.1% (2020-2024)
−8.8 pts4 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.5% → 89.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

There is not enough history to compare Union, New Jersey over five years.

Cities and towns like Union, New Jersey five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Union, New Jersey in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

No place that looked like Union, New Jersey five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,774 residents (±952)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,774 residents (±952)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

White9.4%†261
Black38%†1,064
Hispanic or Latino32%†882

Education

2,252 residents (±793)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

No high school diploma22%†494
High school or GED21%†472
Some college20%†457

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

991 households (±369)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $25k6.5%†64
$25k–50k11%†105
$50k–75k7.7%†76
$75k–100k7.8%†77
$100k–150k11%†105
$150k–200k31%†307
$200k or more26%†257

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

991 households (±369)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Own70%†691
Rent30%†300

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

294 households (±126)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $7500.0%0
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,50017%†50

Home values

691 homes (±345)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under $150k1.3%†9
$150k–250k1.4%†10
$250k–400k19%†130

Age of homes

1,069 homes (±365)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

2010 or later8.3%†89
2000–20096.4%†68
1980–19994.0%†43

Size of homes

1,069 homes (±365)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom11%†115
2 bedrooms20%†219

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,619 workers (±529)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Drive alone64%†1,039
Carpool13%†203
Public transit9.4%†152
Walk4.7%†76
Bike0.0%0
Work from home9.2%†149
Other0.0%0

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,470 workers (±496)

Union, New Jersey
New Jersey share

Under 15 min11%†158
15–29 min35%†513
30–44 min36%†527

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Union County, the county holding most of Union's residents.

Union County has 14,276 employer establishments, 244 for every 10,000 residents (0.98× the US rate of 248; 0.96× New Jersey's), with 208,505 paid employees at an average annual pay of $72,244. The Census Bureau also counts 61,956 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 14,276; 61,956 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 244; US 248 · New Jersey 253
Paid employees: 208,505
Average annual pay: $72,244; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Union County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,224	20.9	1.00×About typical	13,736	$70,818	2,617
Restaurants and other eating places	1,157	19.7	1.07×About typical	13,647	$25,512	579
Specialty trade contractors	937	16	1.03×About typical	6,821	$85,493	2,970
Construction of buildings	530	9	1.20×About typical	1,992	$76,194	1,952
Full-service restaurants	514	8.8	1.14×About typical	6,648	$29,063	320
Lessors of real estate	509	8.7	0.70×Fewer than typical	2,354	$66,939	6,521
Truck transportation	502	8.6	1.69×More than typical	3,799	$61,152	3,274
Services to buildings and dwellings	487	8.3	1.23×About typical	3,175	$42,216	3,443
Personal care services	467	8	1.67×More than typical	2,316	$27,328	1,841
Limited-service restaurants	463	7.9	0.98×About typical	5,053	$22,759	162
Offices of physicians	386	6.6	1.02×About typical	3,395	$127,995	340
Building equipment contractors	375	6.4	1.06×About typical	3,527	$87,998	697

Rank places for an industry Open Union County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 586,115 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $161.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Union, New Jersey: $58.26 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $161.6K; +241% vs FY2025
Per resident: $58.26; US $1,995
Sole-source: 2.3%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.2%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Agricultural Marketing Service$138.5K86%
Defense Logistics Agency$11.9K7.3%
Bureau of Reclamation$3,2622.0%
Environmental Protection Agency$2,7771.7%
Offices, Boards and Divisions$2,7011.7%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$1,1110.7%
Federal Prison Industries / Unicor$6900.4%
Department of State$4170.3%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

107.9KFY2017
59KFY2018
34KFY2019
23.9KFY2020
52.9KFY2021
45.7KFY2022
53KFY2023
33.1K

Top industries (NAICS)

Other food manufacturing · 3119$112K69%
Grain and oilseed milling · 3112$26.5K16%
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$11.4K7.1%
Architectural and structural metals manufacturing · 3323$3,2622.0%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$2,7771.7%
Investigation and security services · 5616$2,678

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Union, New Jersey, so they do not add up across cities.

Union, New Jersey's figures are part of those of Union County, NJ ($97.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.2% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Union is mostly in Union County.

See federal money in Union County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Union, New Jersey is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Union County80100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ69

Other cities and towns in Union County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3474478

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Cities and towns like Union, New Jersey five years ago that improved