Best PlacesUnion, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Union, 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 ranks 970th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Union
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Union ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of cities
- TransitBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Union ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Union
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $123,522, 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's effective rate of 2.31%, 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
Union 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.
Who works in Union, and how
Work in Union centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Union
Union has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Union and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Union, month by month
Union sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Union
Newark Liberty International sits about 5 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Union
Schools across Union average a D+, better than 12% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- South Mountain SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Tuscan Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Washington ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington SchoolA · 64% proficient
- William F. Halloran School No.22B− · 40% proficient
- Maplewood Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell AcademyB · 47% proficient
- Columbia High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Union High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Union suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Union
Is Union a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union ranks 970th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, transit, and walkability, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $457,422. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $123,522 median income, cost of living beats 62% of cities.
Is Union safe?
Union is safer than 32% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Union?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of cities.
Is Union good for families?
Schools beat 12% of cities, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Union with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union 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.