Johnson City Square Deal Arch · Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0Unemployment in Union (5.8%) is higher than in 72% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Union is better than 30% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in four work in Union itself; outside it, Binghamton draws the most (17%, 6 miles). Measured by household income, Union is behind 71% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Union apart
Commutes from Union are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Union works one town over
38% of working residents work in a town that borders Union: Binghamton (17%), Vestal (9%) and Dickinson (6%). Next door ↓
Union trades workers with the towns around it
Union has about as many jobs (20,333) as working residents (21,522), but they are mostly different people: 15,307 residents leave for work each day while 14,118 people come in. Only 31% of the jobs in Union are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Union residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
Inside Union’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Union’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Union
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,264 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
In and out of Union on a workday
On a workday 15,307 residents head out to work, 6,215 work right here, and 14,118 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 (0.94 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The distance from Union to work
About 22% 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.
The towns that employ Union’s residents
Where Union clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
What work there is in Union: 20,333 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union, 2013 → 2023: 23,795 → 20,333. 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Union
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 25,572 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). 13.2% of Union households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Union is 718th among 830 U.S. towns of 38,000 to 73,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Valley Stream NY | 40,379 | $133K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Perinton NY | 46,823 | $112K | 4.8% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Webster NY | 45,309 | $94K | 5.1% | 2.7% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 716 | New Brunswick NJ | 57,133 | $66K | 32.0% | 8.1% | 15% | C |
| 717 | Midwest City OK | 58,799 | $58K | 16.5% | 7.1% | 12% | C |
| 718 | Union NY | 53,972 | $62K | 16.2% | 5.8% | 29% | C |
| 719 | Yuba City CA | 69,485 | $75K | 14.3% | 7.0% | 26% | C |
| 720 | Dothan AL | 72,060 | $56K | 19.3% | 4.3% | 58% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 830 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 New York.
38% of Union works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | – | C | A− | 18 min | $61,713 |
| Vestal | 9% | B− | A− | 19 min | $83,012 |
| Johnson City | under 2% | C− | A | 17 min | $56,283 |
| Dickinson | 6% | B | C+ | 17 min | $77,864 |
| Maine | under 2% | C | D | 20 min | $69,115 |
| Binghamton | 17% | D | A | 19 min | $45,578 |
| Owego | 4% | B− | B | 20 min | $86,263 |
| Chenango | 2% | C+ | C− | 24 min | $86,646 |
| Endicott | under 2% | C− | A | 20 min | $47,290 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Binghamton. 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?
$61,713 (±$1,769) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union?
16.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union?
18 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Binghamton (17%, 6 mi), Vestal (9%, 5 mi), Dickinson (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union walkable?
Union is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 13% 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.