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Towns / Ohio

Union, Ohio

Union is a suburb of about 7,200 people in Montgomery County, Ohio, in the Dayton area. It has grown about 4% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Cincinnati, is about 54 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Dayton

Population
7,177
up 4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$169,200
Montgomery County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$73,353
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Dayton area
92.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Troy, OH
To Cincinnati
54 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 7.3% below the U.S. average in the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood10 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Northmont High School, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byUpper Valley Medical Center in Troy, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCincinnati is about 54 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Union meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Union runs into the built-up area around Dayton (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$169,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Montgomery County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,118 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$73,353U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
81%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,639 a yearOhio: $2,822
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
92.7U.S. average = 100 (the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek metro area, not Union alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
7,1772020: 6,903
Median age
36.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
24%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (25%); professional and business services (15%); manufacturing (12%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Upper Valley Medical Center, Troy, OH, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Union, run by Northmont City. The nearest public high school is Northmont High School, about 3 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Ohio's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
22°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
16 a year
Nights at or below freezing
110 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.3 inches a year
Snow
25 inches a year
Elevation
934 feet

Weather station: Dayton Intl Ap (5 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Upper Valley Medical Center, Dayton, Cincinnati.

Montgomery County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park11 miles
  • Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument26 miles
  • William Howard Taft National Historic Site55 miles

Read about Union's history on Wikipedia.

Know Union?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Phillipsburg, OH493 people, 5 miles
  • Ludlow Falls, OH178 people, 7 miles
  • Potsdam, OH233 people, 7 miles
  • Laura, OH412 people, 8 miles
  • Verona, OH400 people, 10 miles
  • Gordon, OH239 people, 10 miles
  • Pitsburg, OH377 people, 11 miles
  • Drexel, OH (unincorporated)1,751 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.