Alexander McAllister House · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0At 13.4%, unemployment in Union Gap is higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Union Gap; the top destination outside it is Yakima (44%, 4 miles). The two grades for Union Gap are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, next to 20% for Washington as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Union Gap, in brief
Union Gap and Yakima trade workers both ways
Yakima is the top workplace for Union Gap residents (44%) and also where the most people who work in Union Gap come from (35% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Union Gap are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Union Gap is where the jobs are
Union Gap has 4,979 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most Union Gap residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
45% of the jobs in Union Gap are in trade, transport and utilities, against 20% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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.
The four measures behind Union Gap’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Union Gap is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #251 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Union Gap’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Union Gap could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily trip into Union Gap
Where Union Gap clocks in
44% of workers
2% 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.
Union Gap’s commute takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Union Gap workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,722 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% 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 Gap on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,265 residents head out to work, 213 work right here, and 4,766 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,100 people are in Union Gap on a workday afternoon, 38% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Union Gap
About 20% 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.
Jobs in Union Gap: what the 4,979 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Union Gap, 2013 → 2023: 4,618 → 4,979. 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 Gap’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Union Gap, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Union Gap is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #203 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.9% across Washington.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,939 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 2.6% of Union Gap households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Union Gap’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,661st of 3,283: where Union Gap ranks among U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,900
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 230 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,659 | Carmi Township IL | 6,003 | $53K | 18.8% | 2.7% | 29% | C− |
| 2,660 | Kenai AK | 7,924 | $87K | 13.2% | 7.4% | — | C− |
| 2,661 | Union Gap WA | 6,617 | $60K | 13.8% | 13.4% | 9% | C− |
| 2,662 | Benton Township IL | 8,535 | $56K | 17.1% | 4.9% | 19% | C− |
| 2,663 | Belleview FL | 6,512 | $58K | 16.8% | 5.9% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,283 | 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 Gap, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
45% of Union Gap works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Yakima. Darker towns draw more of Union Gap’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 Gap: questions
What is the median household income in Union Gap?
$59,651 (±$5,683) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Union Gap?
13.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Union Gap?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Union Gap work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yakima (44%, 4 mi), Selah (2%, 7 mi), Seattle (2%, 114 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Union Gap walkable?
Union Gap is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Union Gap without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Union Gap, from the people who make the trip.
More of Union Gap
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.