Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Union Township commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Only 4% work in Union Township; the top destination outside it is Wilkes-Barre (11%, 15 miles). 249 jobs are based in Union Township, against 760 working residents. For jobs and income Union Township is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Union Township
Fewer jobs are based in Union Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Union Township fell from 669 in 2013 to 249 in 2023, −63%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Union Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 92 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; with 760 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Union Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Union Township’s grade up (5.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (10.9%) is left out: Union Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Union Township could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The kinds of work in Union Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union Township, 2013 → 2023: 669 → 249. 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.
About 38 minutes to work from Union Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 741 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Union Township by day and by night
On a workday 727 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Union Township on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
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 Union Township’s working residents head each day
Where Union Township clocks in
11% 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.
How far Union Township’s workers travel
About 18% 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 Township, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 846 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.1% of Union Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Union Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800, Union Township ranks 1,563rd of 5,148 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 26 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Lowhill Township PA | 2,331 | $144K | 2.7% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,561 | Dillsburg PA | 2,635 | $84K | 8.8% | 5.3% | 3% | B |
| 1,562 | Inland Township MI | 2,493 | $81K | 6.3% | 1.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,563 | Union Township PA | 2,074 | $93K | 5.9% | 10.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,564 | Royalton VT | 2,692 | $104K | 13.0% | 0.3% | 18% | B |
| 1,565 | Caruthers CA | 1,683 | $88K | 11.6% | 4.0% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Pennsylvania.
Union Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Salem Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | – | B | D | 38 min | $92,991 |
| Conyngham Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 34 min | $60,265 |
| Hunlock Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 31 min | $69,769 |
| Shickshinny | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Huntington Township | under 2% | C | D− | 38 min | $62,212 |
| Salem Township | 5% | B+ | C | 29 min | $78,560 |
| Glen Lyon | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Newport Township | under 2% | C+ | C | 25 min | $57,541 |
Same-state neighbors only. Shickshinny: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Glen Lyon: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$92,991 (±$12,779) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union Township?
5.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union Township?
38 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkes-Barre (11%, 15 mi), Hanover Township (5%, 11 mi), Plains Township (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union Township walkable?
Union Township is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.