Photo: Mhuy222 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Union earn more than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Union A+; getting around on foot earns it C. 2.9% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 16.1% for Kentucky as a whole. Working from home is the commute for 22% of workers, against 10% across Kentucky.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Union, in brief
Union has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Union went from 775 in 2013 to 1,273 in 2023, +64%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Union
67% of Union residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Union pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A lot of Union works from home
22% of Union workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Time on the road ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Union’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 26 minutes, longer than the Kentucky average of 24. Time on the road ↓
Union is a place people come home to
There are 1,273 jobs based in Union, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Union has about 5,000 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Union’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Union is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #4 of 142 in Kentucky. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Union’s grade. It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union could be anywhere from A to A+.
The kinds of work in Union
1,273 jobs are based in Union.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union, 2013 → 2023: 775 → 1,273. 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.
How long Union spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,148 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Union by day
On a workday 4,127 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 1,206 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Union on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.30 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in Florence
Where Union clocks in
16% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
How many miles Union commutes
About 17% 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.
For most of Union, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Union is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #115 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,026 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.8% of Union households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
Union next to U.S. towns of 5,600 to 10,700: 70th of 2,981 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Oakwood OH | 9,441 | $157K | 2.7% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 69 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 70 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| 71 | Parkville MO | 9,093 | $171K | 2.0% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 72 | Vernon WI | 7,464 | $120K | 3.0% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Edgewood KY | 8,503 | $119K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Union, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
The towns next door employ 16% of Union
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Florence. Darker towns draw more of Union’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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?
$136,712 (±$9,203) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union?
2.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Florence (16%, 4 mi), Cincinnati (10%, 16 mi), Covington (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union walkable?
Union is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.