Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnion City has 2.2 jobs for every working resident: 7,673 people commute in to work
Union City has 9,598 jobs, and 4,333 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Union City is better than 13% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B−). Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Union City
Union City is where the jobs are
Union City has 9,598 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 49% more than the 11,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Union City are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Tennessee. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Tennessee worker. Time on the road ↓
Union City has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Union City went from 6,484 in 2014 to 9,598 in 2024, +48%. The jobs ↓
Union City draws workers from far and wide
The 9,598 jobs in Union City are filled from a wide area. Union City’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Union City makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Union City are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Union City residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, 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.
Where Union City’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Union City’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union City could be anywhere from D to C.
In and out of Union City on a workday
On a workday 2,408 residents head out to work and 1,925 work right here.
About 16,000 people are in Union City on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
From Union City, about 17 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union City workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,407 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% 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.
Making and building: 39% of jobs based in Union City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union City, 2014 → 2024: 6,484 → 9,598. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Union City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Union City
Where Union City clocks in
7% 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.
How far it is to work from Union City
About 26% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Union City is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,522 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). 9.8% of Union City households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Union City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Union City sits among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,308 | Jacksonville TX | 14,658 | $51K | 26.5% | 6.4% | 31% | D |
| 2,309 | Fortuna CA | 12,003 | $62K | 18.2% | 7.0% | 25% | D |
| 2,310 | Union City TN | 10,814 | $51K | 23.5% | 5.3% | 44% | D |
| 2,311 | Wasilla AK | 10,556 | $67K | 17.5% | 8.2% | — | D |
| 2,312 | West Plains MO | 12,780 | $44K | 28.1% | 4.2% | 51% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 City, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 City: questions
What is the median household income in Union City?
$50,870 (±$11,628) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union City?
23.5%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union City?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union City work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Martin (7%, 12 mi), Dyersburg (4%, 32 mi), Memphis (3%, 105 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Union City walkable?
Union City is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Union City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Union City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.