Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Union Township’s household incomes are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Union Township; the top destination outside it is New York City (5%, 54 miles). Below the poverty line: 4.0% of residents, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. The two grades for Union Township are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Union Township, in brief
No single place dominates Union Township’s commute
The biggest draw, New York City, NY, gets only 5% of working residents, and 70% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Union Township residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Union Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 31 across New Jersey. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Union Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Union Township is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #278 of 468 in New Jersey. Household income holds Union Township’s grade up ($137,568, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union Township could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The places Union Township commutes to
Where Union Township clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
Getting to work from Union Township takes about 38 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union Township workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,114 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily commute in and out of Union Township
On a workday 2,456 residents head out to work, 93 work right here, and 1,583 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in Union Township on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
69% of the jobs in Union Township pay over $3,333 a month
1,676 jobs are based in Union Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,620 → 1,676. 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 Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Union Township, by distance
About 15% 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 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 72% of U.S. towns, #348 of 468 in New Jersey. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 13.2% across New Jersey, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,743 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 20% 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). 3.9% of Union Township households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Union Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
944th of 3,201: where Union Township ranks among U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,000
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hainesport Township NJ | 6,197 | $143K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Old Tappan NJ | 6,686 | $205K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 942 | Dexter Township MI | 6,510 | $124K | 5.9% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| 943 | Rye NH | 5,689 | $141K | 6.9% | 4.2% | 7% | A− |
| 944 | Union Township NJ | 6,649 | $138K | 4.0% | 7.9% | 4% | A− |
| 945 | Wauna WA | 4,805 | $103K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 2% | A− |
| 946 | Becker MN | 5,425 | $86K | 9.5% | 1.1% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,201 | 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 Township, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
Union Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | – | A− | B+ | 38 min | $137,568 |
| Alexandria Township | under 2% | B | D | 44 min | $160,354 |
| Clinton Township | 4% | A | B | 37 min | $167,109 |
| Franklin Township | under 2% | A+ | B | 31 min | $161,169 |
| Lebanon Township | under 2% | B | B | 30 min | $129,936 |
| Clinton | under 2% | A+ | A | 29 min | $141,146 |
| Bethlehem Township | under 2% | A+ | C | 35 min | $142,434 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Clinton Township. 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 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 Township: questions
What is the median household income in Union Township?
$137,568 (±$18,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union Township?
4.0%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union Township?
38 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (5%, 54 mi), Raritan Township (4%, 7 mi), Clinton Township (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union Township walkable?
Union Township is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union Township without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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), 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.