Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Union Township's standout: it is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades B−, 290th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. It is healthier than 83% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $119K. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $573K, 5.8 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Union Township is home to Kean University. Union Township’s midpoint rent is $2,064 a month, above both New Jersey’s towns ($1,778 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Union Township has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gov. William Liberty Hall (Livingston House) and First Presbyterian Congregation of Connecticut Farms.
Where Union Township beats most towns.
2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Union Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 6%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Gov. William Liberty Hall (Livingston House) is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,428 in 1810, 59,728 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1796 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Union Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw17 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw16 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw17 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMadison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Union Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Union Township.
Union Township trades workers with Newark and other neighbors, is safe by national standards but not by New Jersey’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey.
Within New Jersey it is less healthy than 56% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar. Against the 5,808 U.S. towns with household incomes like Union Township’s, it is healthier than 63%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
In Union Township, one in ten adults smoke cigarettes. Against the New Jersey average, Union Township comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. Among adults in the town, 40% sleep under 7 hours and 15% binge drink.
| Union Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Union Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.4% | 7.5% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.2% | 22.2% |
| More adults lacking emotional support | 27.7% | 24% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Public schools: the Township of Union School District. Below: Two of its 12 schools, each with why it was picked. 6 public schools serve Union Township, with 3,172 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burnet Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 970 | C |
| Union High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,410 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
The range runs from 24° on a January night to 87° on a July afternoon, with about 32 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Since 1978, Union Township has seen 361 flood insurance claims paid out. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage locally than in 67% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Union Township households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 62% come from inland flooding and 12% from earthquakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Union Township has about as many jobs (29,092) as working residents, but only 2,102 people both live and work here.
Just 7% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Union Township’s average trip to work stands at 30 minutes. The top destinations are Newark (11%), New York (10%) and Elizabeth (5%).
| Union Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $119,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 12% | 17% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The biggest park or preserve is Lightning Brook Park, at 41 acres. 3.5 miles of trail wind through 13 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Union Township: 13, covering 132 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sichel Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
| 2. Lightning Brook Park | — | 41 |
| 3. Elizabeth River Park | — | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
19% of residents are under 18 in Union Township. No broad age group is more than 4 points off the New Jersey average. This New Jersey town is growing: up 6.6% since 2020, to 63,675 residents (2025 estimate). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 41%, against 44% across New Jersey.
| Union Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 19% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 45% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 18% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.2 points). Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Median age: women 43.3, men 39.3.
| Union Township | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.1% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.5% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.7% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.9% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.9% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.2% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.8% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.2% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 20.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 73% of New Jersey’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,294 to 1,031 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Its violent crime rate comes in at 0.2 per 1,000 residents. In Union Township, the property offense rate is 15.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Union Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Zillow values the typical Union Township home at about $573,000, up 3.3% in a year, close to the New Jersey typical home. The share of households in Union Township who own their home: 72%.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
50 within 15 miles of the center of Union Township
About 9 of every 100 Union Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
4 places in Union Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Union Township.
Township in Union County, New Jersey, US
Union Township is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In the 18th century, the area that is now Union was then called Connecticut Farms. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 59,728, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 3,086 (+5.4%) from the 2010 census count of 56,642, which in turn had reflected an increase of 2,237 (+4.1%) from the 54,405 counted at the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Union Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | #290 | B− | D | B− | C+ | A− |
| Hillside Township | #413 | D | D | C− | C− | B− |
| Springfield Township | #177 | A− | D | B+ | B | A+ |
| Kenilworth | #235 | B | D− | A− | C+ | B+ |
| Vauxhall | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Millburn Township | #113 | A | D | B− | A | A+ |
| Elizabeth | #435 | D | D | D | C | C |
| Kean University | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Vauxhall and Kean University aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Union Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Union Township grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #290 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A− for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
9 notable people were born here, including Robert Wuhl and Jay Eaton.
_-_Full_(48124330357).jpg){kind=link}
_-_Central_Park,_NYC.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}