Photo: Bnperdue2010 · CC BY-SA 4.0Union draws 1,741 commuters a day, with 5.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 2% work in Union; the top destination outside it is Chicago (14%, 52 miles). 1,747 jobs are based in Union for 315 working residents. Home is the office for 5% of workers, next to 16% for Illinois as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Union in brief
Union fills up on a workday
Union has 1,747 jobs, 5.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,100 people are in town, 3 times the 680 who live here. Day and night ↓
Union makes and builds things
97% of the jobs based in Union are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Union residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. The jobs ↓
Union’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Union is Chicago, 52 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (43) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 315 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who leaves Union for work, and who comes in
On a workday 309 residents head out to work and 6 work right here.
About 2,100 people are in Union on a workday afternoon, 209% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 97% of the jobs in Union
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union, 2013 → 2023: 763 → 1,747. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Union’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Union
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Where the people who work in Union live
Where Union clocks in
14% of workers
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Getting to work from Union takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union workers work from home, vs 16% across Illinois. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 352 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Illinois: 78% drive alone, 7% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Union: questions
What is the median household income in Union?
$89,844 (±$29,864) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,390 across Illinois and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union?
7.5%, against 11.8% across Illinois and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union?
30 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Illinois and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (14%, 52 mi), Schaumburg (6%, 27 mi), Huntley (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Union without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Union, from the people who make the trip.
More of Union
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.