Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,851. Public schools that outperform most of Pennsylvania.
Union Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $119K, 1.6 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. It grades B overall, 556th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 85% of the country, and it reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, including 10 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, its public schools beat 85% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. Union Township’s property offense rate is 25.4 per 1,000 residents, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (5.7) and U.S. towns (9.9). The biggest park or preserve is Scotland Meadows Park, at 45 acres.
Where Union Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Union Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,103 in 2000, 4,997 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 4 maps from 1905 on.
Explore the history →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 pairs an A for schools with modest home prices and trades workers with New Castle and other neighbors, but it reports more crime than New Castle and its other graded neighbors.
Union Township: 16% of adults binge drink. Among adults in the town, 22% smoke cigarettes and 17% report frequent physical distress.
| Union Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Union Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 11.3% | 7.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.4% | 5.8% |
| More smokers | 21.8% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
That grade comes with an A for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $119K.
Union Area SD runs its public schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The 3 public schools in Union Township teach 687 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Memorial El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 320 | B+ |
| Union Area HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 193 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from New Castle (B) to Mahoning Township (A+).
The violent crime rate in Union Township is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA puts 84% of Union Township’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 71% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 20° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Union Township has about as many jobs (2,055) as working residents, but only 205 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 16.8 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
The top destinations are New Castle (15%), Neshannock Township (8%) and Shenango Township (4%). Union Township’s average trip to work stands at 17 minutes. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Union Township dropped by 169, to 2,055.
| Union Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.3% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Trails run 1.5 miles in 1 park or preserve. In Union Township, the concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Union Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scotland Meadows Park | 0.8 mi | 45 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Union Township. Close and well known come first.
15 mi MuseumButler Institute of American Art
4 mi Theme parkCascade Park
30 mi MuseumOld Economy Village
28 mi AttractionChester teapot16 mi MuseumAir Heritage Aviation MuseumButler Institute of American Art: Lorinda Dixon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cascade Park: Pianotech, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old Economy Village: Lee Paxton, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chester teapot: Navy2004, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Union Township
About 3 of every 100 Union Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Union Township is a township in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,997 at the time of the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 5,190 as of 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Union Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | #556 | B | A | C− | A | D |
| Neshannock Township | #105 | A+ | B− | A+ | A | B |
| Oakwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mahoning Township | #106 | A+ | A+ | A+ | A− | C+ |
| New Castle | #951 | C− | A− | B | C− | D− |
| Oakland | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Beaver Township | #158 | A | A | A+ | A− | C |
| Edinburg | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Oakwood, Oakland and Edinburg 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.
By most measures, yes. Union Township grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #556 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades D for health, C− for safety and A for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Union Township reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade: 10 violent and 123 property crimes in 2025.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
