Union County

Union County is home to the communities of Cove, Elgin, Imbler, Island City, La Grande, North Powder, Summerville, and Union. Union County is a beautiful place to live with mountains and streams providing hunting, fishing, skiing, and camping opportunities. Initially, the county’s economy was defined by mining but over the years farming (wheat, fruit, vegetables, and grass seeds), cattle, sheep raising, and timber replaced mining as the primary economic forces in the county. More recently, the county diversified into an economic base that includes light manufacturing; technical based business and regional headquarters for Federal and State government. A mainstay of the Union County economy is Eastern Oregon University – a college offering certificate and degree programs that attracts students from Oregon, the PNW and internationally.

Communities in Union County include:

Cove
Elgin
Imbler
Island City
La Grande
North Powder
Summerville
Union

Population

Population	2000	2010	2025	2030
Union County	24,530	25,748	26,263	26,253

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Population by Age

Population	2025
0-4	1,369
5-9	1,507
10-14	1,655
15-19	1,700
20-24	1,523
25-29	1,785
30-34	1,567
35-39	1,671
40-44	1,634
45-49	1,375
50-54	1,341
55-59	1,350
60-64	1,625
65-69	1,854
70-74	1,696
75-79	1,299
80-84	694
85+	618
18+	20,764
Median Age	41

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Population by Race

Union County	2025
Total	26,263.00
White Alone	85.01%
Black Alone	0.65%
American Indian Alone	1.02%
Asian Alone	0.87%
Pacific Islander Alone	1.92%
Some Other Race	1.93%
Two or More Races	8.6%
Hispanic Origin	5.75%
Diversity Index	34.80

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Growth Rate

Union County	2025 - 2030
Population	-0.01%
Households	0.19%
Families	0.04%
Median Household Income	2%
Per Capita Income	2%

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Housing

Households

Population	2000	2010	2025	2030
Households	9,740	10,501	10,980	11,085
Housing Units	10,604	11,490	11,874	11,972
Owner Occupied Units			7,298	7,424
Renter Occupied Units			3,682	3,661
Vacant Units			894	887

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Home Value

Union County	2025	2030
Median Home Value	$347,568	$371,565
Average Home Value	$389,132	$409,797
<$50,000	503	464
$50,000 - $99,999	292	274
$100,000 - $149,999	337	319
$150,000 - $199,999	504	472
$200,000 - $249,999	725	685
$250,000 - $299,999	711	675
$300,000 - $399,999	1,213	1,150
$400,000 - $499,999	1,265	1,402
$500,000 - $749,999	1,256	1,382
$1,000,000 +	139	169

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Housing Year Built

Year Range	Houses Built
2010 or Later	627
2000-2009	945
1990-1999	1,334
1980-1989	1,410
1970-1979	2,051
1960-1969	828
1950-1959	808
1940-1949	456
1939 or Before	3,292

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Income

Union County	2025	2030
Median Household	$67,178	$74,690
Average Household	$84,100	$91,492
Per Capita	$35,178	$38,649

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Household Income

Union County	2025
<$15,000	1,199
$15,000 - $24,999	853
$25,000 - $34,999	766
$35,000 - $49,999	1,204
$50,000 - $74,999	1,999
$75,000 - $99,999	1,768
$100,000 - $149,999	1,770
$150,000 - $199,999	910
$200,000+	511

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Employees

Commute

Category	Commuters
Workers 16+	11,429
In-County Residents	10,828
Out-of-County Residents	415
Drive Alone	8,413
Carpooled	1,224
Public Transport	38
Work at Home	781
Motorcycle	0
Bicycle	100
Walked	641
Other	232
Less than 5 minutes	1,216
5-9 minutes	2,996
10-14 minutes	2,315
15-19 minutes	1,025
20-24 minutes	1,098
25-29 minutes	304
30-34 minutes	682
35-39 minutes	91
40-44 minutes	89
45-59 minutes	301
60-89 minutes	244
90+ minutes	287
Average Travel Time	17

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Employees by NAICS

Category	Number
Total Employees	11,503
Agr/Forestry/Fish/Hunt	395
Mining	16
Utilities	23
Construction	353
Manufacturing	746
Wholesale Trade	647

Retail Trade	1,543
Motor Veh/Parts Dealers	407
Furn & Home Furnish Str	33
Electronics & Appl Store	26
Bldg Matl/Garden Equip	68
Food & Beverage Stores	285
Health/Pers Care Stores	64
Gasoline Stations	135
Clothing/Accessory Store	19
Sports/Hobby/Book/Music	120
General Merchandise Str	386

Transportation/Warehouse	209
Information	191

Finance & Insurance	211
Cntrl Bank/Crdt Intrmdtn	100
Sec/Cmdty Cntrct/Oth Inv	63
Insur/Funds/Trusts/Other	48

Real Estate/Rent/Leasing	183
Prof/Scientific/Tech Srv	346
Legal Services	27
Mgmt of Comp/Enterprises	4
Admin/Support/Waste Mgmt	96
Educational Services	1,994
HealthCare/Social Assist	1,589
Arts/Entertainment/Rec	139

Accommodation/Food Srvcs	918
Accommodation	89
Food Srv/Drinking Places	829

Other Srv excl Pub Admin	558
Auto Repair/Maintenance	86
Public Administration Emp	1,342

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Educational Attainment (25+)

Union County	2025
<9th Grade	316
Some High School	748
GED	1,074
Graduated High School	5,110
Some College/No Degree	4,242
Associates Degree	1,965
Bachelor's Degree	3,558
Graduate Degree	1,496

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30

Businesses

Businesses by NAICS

Category	Number
Total Businesses	1,267
Agr/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Bus	66
Mining Bus	1
Utilities Bus	5
Construction Bus	88
Manufacturing Bus	37
Wholesale Trade Bus	42

Retail Trade Bus	160
Motor Veh/Parts Dealers Bus	17
Furn & Home Furnish Str Bus	8
Electronics & Appl Store Bus	7
Bldg Matl/Garden Equip Bus	18
Food & Beverage Stores Bus	30
Health/Pers Care Stores Bus	11
Gasoline Stations Bus	19
Clothing/Accessory Store Bus	7
Sports/Hobby/Book/Music Bus	33
General Merchandise Str Bus	10

Transportation/Warehouse Bus	36
Information Bus	32

Finance & Insurance Bus	47
Cntrl Bank/Crdt Intrmdtn Bus	21
Sec/Cmdty Cntrct/Oth Inv Bus	11
Insur/Funds/Trusts/Other Bus	15

Real Estate/Rent/Leasing Bus	49
Prof/Scientific/Tech Srv Bus	77
Legal Services Bus	6
Mgmt of Comp/Enterprises Bus	1
Admin/Support/Waste Mgmt Bus	29
Educational Services Bus	42
HealthCare/Social Assist Bus	101
Arts/Entertainment/Rec Bus	25

Accommodation/Food Srvcs Bus	92
Accommodation Bus	20
Food Srv/Drinking Places Bus	72

Other Srv excl Pub Admin Bus	179
Auto Repair/Maintenance Bus	32
Public Administration Bus	111

Source: ESRI, 2025-09-30