Photo: User:Joebengo · Public domainUnemployment in Union (2.8%) is lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Union is better than 62% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 3% work in Union itself; outside it, Dayton draws the most (19%, 10 miles). Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average, next to 23 for Ohio and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Union
Jobs in Union have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Union went from 344 in 2013 to 2,052 in 2023, +497%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
59% of the jobs in Union are in trade, transport and utilities, against 21% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
A lot of Union works one town over
32% of working residents work in a town that borders Union: Dayton (19%), Clayton (5%) and Englewood (5%). Next door ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Union gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Union’s grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union could be anywhere from C to A.
What the 2,052 jobs in Union are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union, 2013 → 2023: 344 → 2,052. 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.
Union by day and by night
On a workday 2,912 residents head out to work, 77 work right here, and 1,975 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,200 people are in Union on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
Where the trip to work from Union ends
Where Union clocks in
19% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Union
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,189 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 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.
Where in the region Union works
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.
In Union, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,495 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 1.9% of Union households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
Union next to U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700: 1,460th of 3,205 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Madeira OH | 9,637 | $168K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 26 | The Village of Indian Hill OH | 6,114 | $235K | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Pepper Pike OH | 6,886 | $228K | 1.8% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,458 | Newstead NY | 8,695 | $71K | 6.6% | 4.3% | 18% | B |
| 1,459 | South Pasadena FL | 5,169 | $53K | 9.8% | 2.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,460 | Union OH | 7,177 | $73K | 12.6% | 2.8% | 3% | B |
| 1,461 | Diamondhead MS | 9,441 | $87K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 8% | B |
| 1,462 | Acton CA | 7,880 | $113K | 13.1% | 3.3% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | 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, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Bordering towns draw 32% of Union’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | – | B | B− | 25 min | $73,353 |
| Butler Township | 3% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $93,151 |
| Union Township | under 3% | B+ | D | 28 min | $69,263 |
| Clayton | 5% | A− | B− | 21 min | $92,879 |
| Dayton | 19% | C− | A+ | 20 min | $45,247 |
| Englewood | 5% | A− | B+ | 25 min | $80,030 |
| West Milton | under 3% | B− | C− | 28 min | $62,885 |
| Monroe Township | under 3% | A− | B | 23 min | $79,243 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dayton. 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?
$73,353 (±$9,452) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union?
12.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dayton (19%, 10 mi), Englewood (5%, 3 mi), Clayton (5%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union walkable?
Union is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 33% 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.