Best PlacesUnion City, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Union City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Union City ranks 589th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Union City
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Union City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Union City ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of cities
- BikingBetter than 96% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 251 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of cities
- TransitBetter than 92% of cities
- Household income$147,605 median, better than 90% of cities
Where Union City ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Union City
A household needs to earn about $279,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,605, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Union City's effective rate of 0.73%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Union City
Union City runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Union City.
Who works in Union City, and how
Work in Union City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Union City
Union City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Union City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Union City, month by month
Union City sees roughly 251 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 52° | 46° |
| April | 67° | 58° | 51° |
| July | 75° | 65° | 58° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Union City
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Union City
Schools across Union City average a B+, better than 65% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Brookvale ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Ardenwood ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Warwick ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thornton Junior HighA · 60% proficient
- Centerville Junior HighB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- American HighA · 74% proficient
- Mission San Jose HighA · 71% proficient
- Washington HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union City measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Union City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Union City suits
Common questions about living in Union City
Is Union City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union City ranks 589th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, biking, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,076,451. The overall cost of living runs about 43% above the national average. Set against a $147,605 median income, cost of living beats 59% of cities.
Is Union City safe?
Union City is safer than 33% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Union City?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 46. That works out to about 251 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of cities.
Is Union City good for families?
Schools beat 65% of cities, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $2,082 a month.
Compare Union City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union City represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Union City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union City detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.