26,058 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.4% since 2020)
2,037 square miles of land · 13 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.
10 active community water systems list Union County in the area they serve, reporting 20,152 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LA GRANDE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4100453 | 13,460 served |
| UNION, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4100915 | 2,162 served |
| ELGIN WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · OR4100273 | 1,717 served |
| ISLAND CITY groundwater · local government · OR4100454 | 1,166 served |
| COVE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4101243 | 550 served |
| NORTH POWDER, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4100577 | 501 served |
| IMBLER, CITY OF groundwater · local government · OR4101418 | 250 served |
| SUNDOWNER MOBILE HOME PARK groundwater · private · OR4101344 | 160 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 34 people were held in Union County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 218 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 36.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Union County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $36.9 million — $31.5 million to run schools, about $14,694 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.2 million local (mostly property tax), $25.6 million state, $4.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $54.9 million.
Spent $7.6 million — $7.2 million to run schools, about $17,770 per student, plus $384,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.4 million local (mostly property tax), $5.3 million state, $733,000 federal.
Spent $9.5 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $14,610 per student, plus $3.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.7 million local (mostly property tax), $4.8 million state, $324,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.9 million.
Spent $6.1 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $18,535 per student, plus $324,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.6 million state, $626,000 federal.
Spent $5.4 million — $5.3 million to run schools, about $17,691 per student, plus $97,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $4.5 million state, $507,000 federal.
Spent $5.9 million — $5.5 million to run schools, about $20,135 per student, plus $184,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.1 million local (mostly property tax), $4.8 million state, $756,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.7 million.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Union County about $12.4 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.
169 bridges in Union County: 76 in good condition, 85 fair, and 8 poor (4.7%). “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.
| 2ND ST over UNION PACIFIC RAIL ROAD · built 1979 | 5,933 vehicles a day |
| VALLEY VIEW ROAD over GORDON CREEK · built 2006 | 437 vehicles a day |
| WOODRUFF LANE over CATHERINE CREEK · built 1930 | 372 vehicles a day |
| COURTNEY LANE over WILLOW CREEK EB · built 1965 | 286 vehicles a day |
| COURTNEY LANE over WILLOW CREEK EB · built 1966 | 286 vehicles a day |
| OLD HIGHWAY 30 over UPRR · built 1922 | 222 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $16.4 million of work in Union County in fiscal 2025, about $624 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 Oregon 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 Oregon: the state government and every county in Oregon.
Nearby counties: Umatilla County (41 mi) · Baker County (44 mi) · Wallowa County (44 mi) · Columbia County, WA (68 mi) · Walla Walla County, WA (70 mi) · Asotin County, WA (71 mi).