The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Union County is a county of New Jersey with 579,290 residents. Its economy produced $51,947 million in 2024 (ranked #9 of 21 counties) and had 229,010 jobs with an average annual pay of $84,322 (#6 for pay). The unemployment rate was 4.4% in 2026M09. It is part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area (central county).
Union County produced about $51,947 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 6.1% of the combined output of the 21 counties of New Jersey that BEA reports (about 6.2% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 9th of 21 on that measure. Per resident that is $89,674, about the same as the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $90,541. In current dollars output grew 5.0% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 229,010 jobs located in Union County on average in 2024, spread over 16,571 employer sites (about 14 jobs per site). That is 0.40 jobs for every resident, close to the 0.40 of the typical county in New Jersey, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $84,322, 5% above the average of all counties in the state ($84,322 against $79,933). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 0.2% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (17.7% of private jobs, $65,623 a year on average), retail trade (12.7% of private jobs, $43,169 a year on average), manufacturing (11.1% of private jobs, $140,532 a year on average). Together they hold 41.5% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $160,062 a year, followed by manufacturing ($140,532). The county is specialised in several industries: utilities (1.7 times the US share, 1,442 jobs); transportation and warehousing (1.5 times the US share, 14,703 jobs); other services (except public administration) (1.5 times the US share, 10,374 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($43,169), administrative and waste services ($56,480), accommodation and food services ($31,468). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Union County was 4.4%, 7% above the average of the state's counties (4.4% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 306,181. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 4.2% (2026M04) to 6.1% (2025M09); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $103,202 (ACS 2020–2024), about the same as the state median ($103,202 against $103,556). The guide covers 9 cities with this as the main county: Elizabeth, Plainfield, Linden, Westfield, Rahway, Summit, Roselle, Roselle Park. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,523 in Elizabeth to $2,430 in Summit, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Union County in output are Somerset County, Monmouth County, Burlington County, Camden County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 21 counties of New Jersey ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 579,290 | 7 of 21 |
| GDP 2024 | $51,947 million | 9 of 21 |
| GDP per resident | $89,674 | 8 of 21 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 229,010 | 8 of 21 |
| Average annual pay | $84,322 | 6 of 21 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +0.2% | 16 of 21 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 4.4% | 14 of 21 |
| Median household income | $103,202 | 10 of 21 |
Federal jobs in New Jersey (304) →All cities of New JerseyState guide: New Jersey
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Union County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | 137,302 | $66,555 | $1,523 | $449,300 | 14.6% |
| Plainfield | 55,236 | $85,908 | $1,767 | $410,800 | 22.0% |
| Linden | 44,192 | $92,915 | $1,731 | $419,700 | 23.3% |
| Westfield | 31,111 | $232,629 | $2,357 | $953,400 | 78.1% |
| Rahway | 30,109 | $91,461 | $1,845 | $386,400 | 34.1% |
| Summit | 22,705 | $190,304 | $2,430 | $994,500 | 72.5% |
| Roselle | 22,646 | $92,762 | $1,567 | $379,900 | 27.1% |
| Roselle Park | 14,093 | $109,679 | $1,663 | $443,200 | 38.5% |
| New Providence | 13,727 | $161,599 | $1,903 | $769,900 | 67.6% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 35,116 | 17.7% | $65,623 | 1.07 |
| Retail trade | 25,093 | 12.7% | $43,169 | 1.10 |
| Manufacturing | 22,076 | 11.1% | $140,532 | 1.17 |
| Administrative and waste services | 15,855 | 8.0% | $56,480 | 1.18 |
| Professional and technical services | 15,442 | 7.8% | $160,062 | 0.97 |
| Accommodation and food services | 15,350 | 7.7% | $31,468 | 0.74 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 14,703 | 7.4% | $99,661 | 1.52 |
| Wholesale trade | 12,812 | 6.5% | $101,391 | 1.42 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 10,374 | 5.2% | $45,797 | 1.50 |
| Construction | 9,689 | 4.9% | $88,759 | 0.81 |
| Finance and insurance | 5,018 | 2.5% | $171,726 | 0.54 |
| Information | 3,364 | 1.7% | $135,546 | 0.78 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 3,164 | 1.6% | $32,681 | 0.82 |
| Real estate and rental | 3,158 | 1.6% | $66,564 | 0.89 |
| Educational services | 3,157 | 1.6% | $44,246 | 0.67 |
| Management of companies | 2,306 | 1.2% | $205,045 | 0.60 |
| Utilities | 1,442 | 0.7% | $133,474 | 1.66 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 306,181 |
| Employed residents | 292,704 |
| Unemployed residents | 13,477 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 229,010 |
| Employer sites | 16,571 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County | 962,316 | $105,805 million | $109,948 | 438,240 | $80,639 | 3.5% |
| Middlesex County | 871,290 | $86,705 million | $99,513 | 430,555 | $82,400 | 4.2% |
| Essex County | 863,002 | $76,180 million | $88,273 | 349,076 | $88,369 | 5.1% |
| Hudson County | 718,323 | $65,736 million | $91,513 | 273,729 | $94,901 | 3.8% |
| Ocean County | 654,362 | $31,709 million | $48,458 | 189,912 | $57,452 | 4.0% |
| Monmouth County | 645,353 | $52,693 million | $81,650 | 274,000 | $70,560 | 3.7% |
| Union County | 579,290 | $51,947 million | $89,674 | 229,010 | $84,322 | 4.4% |
| Camden County | 527,257 | $34,620 million | $65,660 | 205,819 | $69,051 | 4.5% |
| Passaic County | 521,012 | $29,074 million | $55,803 | 170,830 | $63,668 | 4.7% |
| Morris County | 514,528 | $74,395 million | $144,589 | 298,824 | $101,208 | 3.5% |
| Burlington County | 467,805 | $40,867 million | $87,360 | 211,549 | $70,647 | 3.8% |
| Mercer County | 385,864 | $56,807 million | $147,219 | 264,154 | $90,503 | 4.2% |
| Somerset County | 349,846 | $54,494 million | $155,766 | 190,468 | $106,418 | 3.7% |
| Gloucester County | 306,954 | $19,111 million | $62,261 | 124,439 | $58,070 | 3.9% |
| Atlantic County | 276,270 | $19,423 million | $70,305 | 125,157 | $59,219 | 4.8% |
| Cumberland County | 153,305 | $8,514 million | $55,533 | 59,688 | $57,729 | 6.1% |
| Sussex County | 145,807 | $6,729 million | $46,149 | 38,360 | $58,693 | 3.7% |
| Hunterdon County | 130,160 | $9,867 million | $75,807 | 46,663 | $75,099 | 3.3% |
| Warren County | 110,849 | $6,162 million | $55,586 | 33,264 | $64,742 | 3.8% |
| Cape May County | 94,941 | $7,801 million | $82,169 | 42,713 | $48,574 | 5.1% |
| Salem County | 65,275 | $7,363 million | $112,806 | 21,587 | $67,562 | 5.1% |
579,290 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$51,947 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
4.4% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
229,010 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $84,322 (BLS QCEW).