Union City, New Jersey

Area Profile

66,463 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Union City, in Hudson County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 27% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 38% of 4,199 cities measured62
Schools2,498th of 4,162 cities measured42
Growth2,881st of 4,224 cities measured42
Housing affordability3,240th of 4,218 cities measured52
ClimateTop 39% of 4,225 cities measured72
Physical resilience3,261st of 4,226 cities measured29
AccessTop 16% of 4,226 cities measured99
Economic stability3,180th of 4,226 cities measured43
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $64,310, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.5 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
66,463
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,310
Bottom 46% nationally
Density
51,642/sq mi
1.3 sq mi of land
Median age
37.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Jersey
Nearest major airport
EWR
9 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$471,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% — higher than in all but 40% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 2.5% over the past year, to 35,256 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHudson County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$108,58487th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHudson County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$133,00398th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,6022024 ACS 5-Year$64,310Bottom 46%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9712024 ACS 5-Year$33,175Bottom 48%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.8%Bottom 18%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year36.3 minBottom 13%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.3%Top 33%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year33.6%3rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202635,256Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.0%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.5%Top 5%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202636,95939th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%Top 39%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$86,310Top 17%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,430Top 19%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year36.8%99th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.6%Bottom 40%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.9%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.43.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.6% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202465k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $64,310 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides644,700$39,680
Retail Salespersons202,080$38,280
Registered Nurses197,740$119,720
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners183,030$42,840
General and Operations Managers177,850$157,000
Cashiers173,830$35,950

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 14 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.0%
Bottom 27% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
55.4%
Bottom 43% in New Jersey
The 12 largest of 14 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Union City High SchoolUnion City School District3,14717.426%61%
Emerson Middle SchoolUnion City School District99914.933%66%
Robert Waters Elementary SchoolUnion City School District98313.130%43%
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary SchoolUnion City School District87115.335%49%
Union Hill Middle SchoolUnion City School District86514.739%58%
George Washington Elementary SchoolUnion City School District77614.135%55%
Thomas A Edison Elementary SchoolUnion City School District76710.530%47%
Colin Powell Elementary SchoolUnion City School District69213.340%47%
Jose Marti STEM AcademyUnion City School District62511.417%31%
Veterans' Memorial Elementary SchoolUnion City School District50213.230%51%
Sara M. Gilmore AcademyUnion City School District40014.386%97%
Hudson Elementary SchoolUnion City School District32011.057%62%

78.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 112.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division is up 45% over five years, and up 5.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,380, some 55% above the $1,537 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,380 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $95,200 a year, about 148% of the median household income here of $64,310.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,537 a month.

A median home at $471,600 costs 4.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $105,956, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
112.6

Prices here run about 13% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,380
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,537
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$471,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Union City’s median household income of $64,310, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2023112.6Bottom 16%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+5.7%84th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+45.1%57th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+81.4%29th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.62024 ACS 5-Year4.5Bottom 13%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.1%1st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6612024 ACS 5-Year27,40898th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,120Bottom 16%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,900Bottom 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,380Bottom 19%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$1,537Bottom 19%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,7152024 ACS 5-Year$471,60087th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes2024 ACS 5-Year$10,000+—2024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$14,1682024 ACS 5-Year$105,956Top 23%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±622024 ACS 5-Year7987th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%54th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.9%44th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3082024 ACS 5-Year1,68397th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

42/ 100
Ranks 2,881 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, to 66,918 in 2024.

88% of the 82 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Hudson County, which contains Union City, lost about 1.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $108,584, below the $133,003 of households that moved out.

At 1.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
82
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 29% nationally
Year over year
+24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
87.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202468k65k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
67%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$108,584
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$133,003
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. New York County, NY 5,068 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Bergen County, NJ 3,312 people · 8.4% of arrivals
  3. Kings County, NY 2,859 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  4. Essex County, NJ 2,673 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  5. Queens County, NY 2,291 people · 5.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bergen County, NJ 6,721 people · 13% of departures
  2. Essex County, NJ 4,661 people · 9.3% of departures
  3. Union County, NJ 3,078 people · 6.1% of departures
  4. Middlesex County, NJ 3,074 people · 6.1% of departures
  5. New York County, NY 2,097 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Hudson County, NJ. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202513869
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−5%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.5 inches, including 29.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 41, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW YORK CNTRL PK TWR, 3.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals49.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals29.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

29 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 68% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Inland floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, tornado, lightning, hail, ice storm, landslide, wildfire, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
248
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,402
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Union City's police department reported 248 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,402.

Hudson County records 1.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.6 per 100,000 residents in Hudson County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
1.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
12.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
6.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Union City’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Union City (Hudson County) rather than Union City itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Newark Liberty Intl at 9 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year85.1%Bottom 31%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle9 miTop 22%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.9%Bottom 30%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newark Liberty IntlEWR9 mi9,999 ft
John F Kennedy IntlJFK16 mi14,511 ft
New York Stewart IntlSWF51 mi11,817 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
52
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
New YorkNew York County8,483,84461New York vs Union City
NewarkEssex County310,17853Newark vs Union City
Jersey CityHudson County294,07863Jersey City vs Union City
YonkersWestchester County209,97861
PatersonPassaic County158,73545
ElizabethUnion County137,30255
Toms RiverOcean County94,95658
CliftonPassaic County89,37958
New RochelleWestchester County82,76968
Mount VernonWestchester County72,42756
BayonneHudson County71,55355
East OrangeEssex County70,09052

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Union City side by side with a similar place.

Union City vs West New YorkUnion City vs Pinewood

Moving to Union City from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Union City

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Union City with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Union City closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0708766,463$64,310$471,600—