Photo: Luigi Novi · CC BY 4.0Union City’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Union City Public Library serves Union City’s 68,589 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 75K visits.
What Union City’s library is like
Union City Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Union City Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Union City’s library lends 0.8 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Hoboken at 4.2. Libraries next door ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 526 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Union City Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Union City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Union City has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Library visits come closest to the U.S. middle.
Union City Public Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
66 community nonprofits are registered in Union City
1.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (59 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.2%
2.2% of Union City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Union City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Union City Public Library serves 68,589 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
10,494 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Union City last year.
3 places to borrow in Union City
Union City Public Library, 324 43rd Street, Union City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Union City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Union City
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Union City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $888K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 6,816 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Union City ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoboken | Hoboken Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 59 | C+ |
| Weehawken Township | Weehawken Free Public Library | 3.0 | — | D |
| Jersey City | Jersey City Public Library | 1.9 | 60 | D |
| North Bergen Township | North Bergen Public Library | 1.9 | 63 | D− |
| Union City | Union City Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 54 | D− |
| West New York | West New York Public Library | — | — | D− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Union City Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Union City
Does Union City have a public library?
Yes. Union City Public Library, 324 43rd Street, serves Union City’s 68,589 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union City Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Union City’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Union City’s civic life grade?
D− Union City has fewer library visits and community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Union City.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.