Union Township has lower family incomes than 70% of U.S. towns
Without college students, the poverty rate is 17.9%; Michigan has 12.5%. Jobs and income earn Union Township C; getting around on foot earns it B−. Home is the office for 4% of workers (Michigan 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Union Township
Union Township trades workers with the towns around it
Union Township has about as many jobs (4,113) as working residents (3,965), but they are mostly different people: 3,671 residents leave for work each day while 3,819 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Union Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Union Township and Mount Pleasant trade workers both ways
Mount Pleasant is the top workplace for Union Township residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Union Township come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Union Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
A young workforce
31% of Union Township’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Few Union Township workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Where Union Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On family income, poverty and job access, Union Township is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #580 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Union Township’s grade up (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
24% of Union Township’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (24% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 17.9%, against 29.7% for all residents. Unemployment (5.7%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($77,969), since student households pull the household median down ($43,694).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Union Township could be anywhere from D to B.
The workday shuffle in and out of Union Township
On a workday 3,671 residents head out to work, 294 work right here, and 3,819 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
29% of working residents work in Mount Pleasant
Where Union Township clocks in
29% of workers
4% 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.
Commuting from Union Township: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,400 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% 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.
What the 4,113 jobs in Union Township are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union Township, 2011 → 2021: 3,645 → 4,113. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Union Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Union Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 25% 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 2021.
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 Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Union Township is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #223 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Union Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,669 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.0% of Union Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Union Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, Union Township ranks 2,200th of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,198 | Rio Vista CA | 10,523 | $89K | 10.3% | 10.9% | 17% | C |
| 2,199 | Georgetown DE | 8,291 | $50K | 16.8% | 3.7% | 13% | C |
| 2,200 | Union Township MI | 11,850 | $44K | 29.7% | 5.7% | 7% | C |
| 2,201 | Magnolia AR | 10,660 | $56K | 22.7% | 2.7% | 45% | C |
| 2,202 | Shasta Lake CA | 10,208 | $67K | 13.3% | 7.2% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Union Township
The biggest share goes to Chippewa Township (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | – | C | B− | 18 min | $43,694 |
| Deerfield Township | under 2% | C+ | D | 20 min | $96,667 |
| Chippewa Township | 9% | C | C− | 24 min | $64,651 |
| Lincoln Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 24 min | $72,938 |
| Isabella Township | under 2% | C− | C | 21 min | $61,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Union Township’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 2021, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Students. 24% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- 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 Township: questions
What is the median household income in Union Township?
$43,694 (±$9,847) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union Township?
29.7% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 17.9%. Michigan: 13.2%.
How long is the commute from Union Township?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Pleasant (29%, 2 mi), Chippewa Township (9%, 8 mi), Midland (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Union Township walkable?
Union Township is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Union Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Union Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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.