26,678 people (2024 Census estimate, −1.9% since 2020)
514 square miles of land · 52 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.
8 active community water systems list Union County in the area they serve, reporting 31,744 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| UNION CITY OF (SC4410001) surface water · local government · SC4410001 | 13,076 served |
| MEANSVILLE RILEY W/D (SC4420001) buys surface water · local government · SC4420001 | 7,368 served |
| SANTUCK HEBRON WATER CO (SC4420007) buys surface water · local government · SC4420007 | 3,109 served |
| BROWNS CREEK W/D (SC4420002) buys surface water · local government · SC4420002 | 2,790 served |
| ROCKY CREEK W/D (SC4420003) buys surface water · local government · SC4420003 | 2,464 served |
| JONESVILLE TOWN OF (SC4410002) buys surface water · local government · SC4410002 | 1,886 served |
| CARLISLE TOWN OF (4410003) buys surface water · local government · SC4410003 | 555 served |
| LOCKHART TOWN OF (SC4420010) buys surface water · local government · SC4420010 | 496 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 82 people were held in Union County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 492 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 86.
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.
1 school district has its office in Union County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $51 million — $47.4 million to run schools, about $12,526 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.3 million local (mostly property tax), $31.6 million state, $12.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.6 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 $12.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
132 bridges in Union County: 48 in good condition, 63 fair, and 21 poor (15.9%). “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.
| SC 49 over FAIRFOREST CREEK · built 1931 | 3,200 vehicles a day |
| SC 72 over TYGER RIVER · built 1958 | 2,500 vehicles a day |
| SC 215 over FAIRFOREST CREEK · built 1930 | 2,300 vehicles a day |
| US 176 over PADGETTS CREEK · built 1922 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| US 176 over S.C.L. RAILROAD · built 1931 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| S-44-19 over BUFFALO CREEK · built 1963 | 1,450 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $17.6 million of work in Union County in fiscal 2025, about $644 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Cherokee County (25 mi) · Chester County (26 mi) · Laurens County (26 mi) · Spartanburg County (27 mi) · Newberry County (28 mi) · York County (31 mi).