594,160 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.6% since 2020)
103 square miles of land · 5,782 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
5 active community water systems list Union County in the area they serve, reporting 995,560 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - RARITAN surface water · private · NJ2004002 | 615,430 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - SHORT HILLS surface water · private · NJ0712001 | 217,230 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - LIBERTY buys surface water · private · NJ2004001 | 134,000 served |
| RAHWAY WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · NJ2013001 | 27,300 served |
| WINFIELD MUTUAL HOUSING buys surface water · private · NJ2021001 | 1,600 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 328 people were held in Union County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 87 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 723.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
21 school districts have their office in Union County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $788 million — $724.9 million to run schools, about $25,644 per student, plus $24.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $74.4 million local (mostly property tax), $656.4 million state, $78.7 million federal.
Spent $338.8 million — $262.1 million to run schools, about $25,959 per student, plus $40.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $31.9 million local (mostly property tax), $300.8 million state, $25.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.7 million.
Spent $198.7 million — $175.5 million to run schools, about $22,579 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $103.2 million local (mostly property tax), $81 million state, $9.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $23.9 million.
Spent $174.5 million — $164.4 million to run schools, about $26,847 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $99.4 million local (mostly property tax), $79.8 million state, $8.4 million federal.
Spent $149.9 million — $140.6 million to run schools, about $23,463 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $115.1 million local (mostly property tax), $37.6 million state, $3.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $17.2 million.
Spent $131.4 million — $123.3 million to run schools, about $21,839 per student, plus $1.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $102.9 million local (mostly property tax), $32 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $740,000.
Spent $119.2 million — $98.5 million to run schools, about $23,703 per student, plus $9.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $50.6 million local (mostly property tax), $58 million state, $8.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $49.4 million.
Spent $102.3 million — $96 million to run schools, about $24,316 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $77.9 million local (mostly property tax), $24.3 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.3 million.
And 13 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Union County about $163.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
409 bridges in Union County: 74 in good condition, 319 fair, and 16 poor (3.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 22 over ECHO LAKE · built 1929 | 73,690 vehicles a day |
| I-78 WB over QUARRY RD. · built 1967 | 45,520 vehicles a day |
| US 22 WB over NJ 82 · built 1953 | 31,623 vehicles a day |
| ROUTE NJ 82 over RAHWAY RIVER · built 1875 | 25,292 vehicles a day |
| NORTH AVE WB over CENTRAL RR OF NJ-CONRAIL · built 1973 | 19,193 vehicles a day |
| NORTH AVE EB over CENTRAL RR OF NJ-CONRAIL · built 1951 | 19,193 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $126.2 million of work in Union County in fiscal 2025, about $219 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New Jersey are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Union County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Union County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Jersey: the state government and every county in New Jersey.
Nearby counties: Essex County (9 mi) · Richmond County, NY (11 mi) · Hudson County (13 mi) · Middlesex County (16 mi) · Somerset County (18 mi) · Morris County (19 mi).