Cabarrus County vs Union County

A side-by-side comparison of Cabarrus County and Union County: population, income, housing, and more.

Cabarrus County and Union County are counties in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Union County has the higher population (244,975 vs 231,262 in Cabarrus County). Union County has the higher median household income ($99,243 vs $86,084 in Cabarrus County). Union County has the higher median home value ($374,400 vs $318,600 in Cabarrus County).

Population, income & housing

	Cabarrus County	Union County
Population	231,262	244,975
Median age	37.7 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$86,084	$99,243
Median home value	$318,600	$374,400
Median gross rent	$1,303	$1,390
Housing units	91,339	86,730
Homeownership rate	72.1%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	37.7%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cabarrus County	Union County
Population	206,615 → 231,262 (+11.9%)	231,053 → 244,975 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$67,328 → $86,084 (+27.9%)	$80,033 → $99,243 (+24.0%)
Median home value	$203,100 → $318,600 (+56.9%)	$241,400 → $374,400 (+55.1%)
Median gross rent	$925 → $1,303 (+40.9%)	$1,030 → $1,390 (+35.0%)

Cabarrus County

Population

206,615231,262

Median household income

$67,328$86,084

Median home value

$203,100$318,600

Median gross rent

$925$1,303

Union County

Population

231,053244,975

Median household income

$80,033$99,243

Median home value

$241,400$374,400

Median gross rent

$1,030$1,390

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cabarrus County	Union County
Under 5	6.1%	5.5%
5 to 17	19.3%	20.6%
18 to 24	8.2%	9.4%
25 to 34	12.6%	9.8%
35 to 44	14.6%	13.4%
45 to 54	14.1%	15.8%
55 to 64	11.8%	12.5%
65 to 74	8.2%	8.1%
75 and over	5.2%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cabarrus County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	58.7%	68.0%
Black or African American	18.5%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	5.4%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	12.4%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cabarrus County	Union County
No high school diploma	8.2%	9.6%
High school graduate	24.9%	22.8%
Some college or associate's	29.3%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	23.9%	25.6%
Graduate or professional degree	13.8%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cabarrus County	Union County
Drove alone	73.5%	70.8%
Carpooled	8.1%	9.3%
Public transit	0.6%	0.2%
Walked	0.6%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	15.8%	18.0%
Other means	1.5%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cabarrus County	Union County
1-unit, detached	76.7%	86.6%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	3.4%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	8.2%	2.7%
20 or more units	3.8%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	5.4%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Cabarrus County	Union County
Poverty rate	8.9%	7.7%
Average household size	2.85	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	28	30
Median year structure built	1996	1999