Union Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Union are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Below the poverty line: 28.9% of residents, next to 14.1% across South Carolina. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. The two grades for Union are D− 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
What sets Union apart on work
Union trades workers with the towns around it
Union has about as many jobs (3,150) as working residents (3,493), but they are mostly different people: 2,946 residents leave for work each day while 2,603 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Union are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Union’s commute
The biggest draw, Spartanburg, gets only 6% of working residents, and 64% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Union residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Few Union workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Union
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Union is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #161 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Union’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($31,914, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union could be anywhere from D− to D.
The workday shuffle in and out of Union
On a workday 2,946 residents head out to work, 547 work right here, and 2,603 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 (0.90 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.
6% of working residents work in Spartanburg
Where Union clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Union
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,058 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 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.
Jobs in Union: what the 3,150 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union, 2013 → 2023: 3,325 → 3,150. 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Union
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.
Most of Union commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Union is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #94 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.4% across South Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,132 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). 14.7% of Union households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
Union next to U.S. towns of 5,700 to 10,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 792 | Powdersville SC | 10,771 | $85K | 9.3% | 1.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 937 | Blythewood SC | 7,233 | $94K | 4.8% | 5.0% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,941 | Martins Ferry OH | 6,048 | $37K | 34.3% | 14.1% | 13% | D− |
| 2,942 | Indianola MS | 8,637 | $42K | 30.5% | 13.1% | 35% | D− |
| 2,943 | Union SC | 8,077 | $32K | 28.9% | 11.4% | 16% | D− |
| 2,944 | Middlesborough KY | 8,776 | $31K | 31.0% | 8.5% | 36% | D− |
| 2,945 | Newport AR | 8,193 | $35K | 30.4% | 8.7% | 33% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,966 | 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 South Carolina.
Union and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Union workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | – | D− | B− | 26 min | $31,914 |
| Monarch Mill | under 1% | D | D | 27 min | $39,350 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$31,914 (±$3,428) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union?
28.9%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spartanburg (6%, 23 mi), Charlotte (4%, 56 mi), Greenville (3%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union walkable?
Union is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.