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Place dossier plate
SheetOR-UNION-OR · Union, OR 2,401 pop · income 30th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Union
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Union on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Flora · lowest
36,453
Flora · lowest
36,453 median HH income
38.7% of the leader · rank #1
Logan · near
56,764
Logan · near
56,764 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #2
Parker Strip · near
56,765
Parker Strip · near
56,765 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #3
Cumberland · near
56,765
Cumberland · near
56,765 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #4
Union · this city
56,767
Union · this city
56,767 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #5
Womelsdorf (C… · near
56,771
Womelsdorf (C… · near
56,771 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #6
Carlton · highest
94,227
Carlton · highest
94,227 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Union on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,401.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Union places in the 30th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
30th
percentile, household income
48th
percentile, home value
66th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Union, OR
Union is a small town in Oregon, home to 2,401 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Union brings in $56,767 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.1%. Typical homes in Union are valued around $220,300, and the median resident age is 40.5 years. Educational attainment runs 11.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 49.0°F with 14.8 inches of precipitation per year and 16.2 inches of snowfall.
Oregon carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Oregon at 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,425 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Oregon run around $185, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 63.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Union's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to population change to climate and hazard context to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Union, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Union?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -34 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.6% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.0°F, with 14.8 inches of precipitation and 16.2 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Oregon is 63.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Union?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Oregon, the closest population matches are Carlton (2,378 residents, $94,227 income); Warm Springs (2,446 residents, $58,203 income); Gold Beach (2,455 residents, $51,662 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New London, IA (2,402 residents); Delcambre, LA (2,400 residents); Flora, MS (2,399 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Union?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 11.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
11.1%
Bachelor's degree+
11.4%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
77.4%
Work from home
4.6%
Public transit
0.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,216 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 11.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Oregon average
F
City profile score · Union, OR
26/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate F
11.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,767
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
103.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Union profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 35/100 (F) · 11.1%
Household income: 30/100 (F) · $56,767
Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
Bachelor's+ share: 10/100 (F) · 11.4%
How does Union compare to other US cities?
Union measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income30% higher than other cities
Home value48% pricier than other cities
Median rent66% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Union against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Oregon only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Oregon-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Union near the bottom of Oregon's cities
Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Union ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Union only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#266 of 364
27th percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#303 of 366
17th percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#98 of 395
75th percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#316 of 395
20th percentile in Oregon
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Oregon only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
30th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Union's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$220,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 52% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Union's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,330 of 15,516
More affordable than 33% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,128 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.9×, Union sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,330 of 15,516 and #8,128 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$56,767Union, OR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Union, OR median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Union, OR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,401
Median Income
$56,767
Median Home Value
$220,300
Median Age
40.5
Poverty Rate
11.1%
Labor force participation
61.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.4%
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.0°F
Annual Precipitation
14.8"
Annual Snowfall
16.2"
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Union's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,152 residents
2021
2,165 residents
2022
2,132 residents
2023
2,119 residents
2024
2,119 residents
2025
2,118 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.4%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
0.6%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
4.6%
Other
2.7%
Based on 1,216 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Oregon statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $185
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Oregon at $185 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Oregon statewide averages, not a meter reading for Union. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Oregon's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Union is $1,425/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Oregon statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 63.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Oregon statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Union sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Union compares to similar-size Oregon cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.