07087Union City, New Jersey

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 07087.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 15% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 43% of 6,210 published ZIP areas58
Schools2783rd of 4,422 published ZIP areas41
Growth3716th of 5,428 published ZIP areas39
Housing affordability6307th of 6,685 published ZIP areas40
ClimateTop 40% of 6,789 published ZIP areas72
Physical resilience5164th of 6,709 published ZIP areas29
AccessTop 15% of 6,791 published ZIP areas99
Economic stability4505th of 6,742 published ZIP areas50
The quick read

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 7.3 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 29% of it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, earthquake and coastal flooding.

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
66,463
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,310
Bottom 38% nationally
Density
50,930/sq mi
1.3 sq mi of land
Median age
37.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Union City
New Jersey
Metro area
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Nearest major airport
EWR
9 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$471,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 43% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 1.6% over the past year, to 34,686 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,602$64,310Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,971$33,175Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.1%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute36.3 minTop 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.3%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment34,686Bottom 36%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.1%Top 35%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.6%Top 6%June 2026
Labor force36,360Bottom 35%June 2026
Labor force participation67.5%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$86,310Top 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$61,430Top 15%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.9%Bottom 8%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 43%June 2026
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

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Union City, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

13% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

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

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
13.0%
Bottom 36% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
33.4%
Bottom 30% in New Jersey
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Union City High SchoolUnion City School District3,14717.4
Emerson Middle SchoolUnion City School District99914.914%46%
Robert Waters Elementary SchoolUnion City School District98313.112%24%
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary SchoolUnion City School District87115.310%28%
Union Hill Middle SchoolUnion City School District86514.718%45%
George Washington Elementary SchoolUnion City School District77614.16%26%
Thomas A Edison Elementary SchoolUnion City School District76710.56%24%
Colin Powell Elementary SchoolUnion City School District69213.311%29%
Jose Marti STEM AcademyUnion City School District62511.4
Veterans' Memorial Elementary SchoolUnion City School District50213.28%27%
Sara M. Gilmore AcademyUnion City School District40014.346%72%
Hudson Elementary SchoolUnion City School District32011.08%22%

78.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,537 takes 29% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 7.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
28.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,537
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$471,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income7.33Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate19.1%Bottom 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±66127,408Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$48$1,537Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,715$471,600Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income28.7%Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.1%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
39/ 100
Ranks 3716 of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

88% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

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

Units permitted
82
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 30% nationally
Year over year
+24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
87.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Union City, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

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 index64.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation49.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall29.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10032024 calendar year
Median air quality index41.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing44°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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

29 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and coastal flooding.

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.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

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 12.0 per 100,000 residents in Hudson County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
1.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
12.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
6.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Hudson County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 07087 rather than 07087 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

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.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

07087 vs Union City

How this ZIP area compares with Union City as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

07087
Union City
Median household income
$64,310
vs
$64,310
Per capita income
$33,175
vs
$33,175
Population density
50,930/sq mi
vs
51,642/sq mi
Median home value
$471,600
vs
$471,600
Median gross rent
$1,537
vs
$1,537
Homeownership rate
19.1%
vs
19.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher
28.3%
vs
28.3%
Poverty rate
23.1%
vs
23.1%
Median age
37.4
vs
37.4

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.