Durham County vs Union County

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

Durham 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.

Durham County has the higher population (329,405 vs 244,975 in Union County). Union County has the higher median household income ($99,243 vs $79,501 in Durham County). Union County has the higher median home value ($374,400 vs $351,700 in Durham County).

Population, income & housing

	Durham County	Union County
Population	329,405	244,975
Median age	35.8 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$79,501	$99,243
Median home value	$351,700	$374,400
Median gross rent	$1,415	$1,390
Housing units	149,150	86,730
Homeownership rate	55.0%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	53.5%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Durham County	Union County
Population	311,848 → 329,405 (+5.6%)	231,053 → 244,975 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$60,958 → $79,501 (+30.4%)	$80,033 → $99,243 (+24.0%)
Median home value	$223,000 → $351,700 (+57.7%)	$241,400 → $374,400 (+55.1%)
Median gross rent	$1,067 → $1,415 (+32.6%)	$1,030 → $1,390 (+35.0%)

Durham County

Population

311,848329,405

Median household income

$60,958$79,501

Median home value

$223,000$351,700

Median gross rent

$1,067$1,415

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)

	Durham County	Union County
Under 5	6.0%	5.5%
5 to 17	14.1%	20.6%
18 to 24	10.5%	9.4%
25 to 34	18.0%	9.8%
35 to 44	14.3%	13.4%
45 to 54	11.8%	15.8%
55 to 64	11.2%	12.5%
65 to 74	8.8%	8.1%
75 and over	5.2%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Durham County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	41.9%	68.0%
Black or African American	32.8%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	5.1%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	15.3%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Durham County	Union County
No high school diploma	9.3%	9.6%
High school graduate	16.3%	22.8%
Some college or associate's	20.9%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	27.6%	25.6%
Graduate or professional degree	25.9%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Durham County	Union County
Drove alone	65.8%	70.8%
Carpooled	8.1%	9.3%
Public transit	2.0%	0.2%
Walked	2.1%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.0%
Worked from home	20.2%	18.0%
Other means	1.3%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Durham County	Union County
1-unit, detached	54.9%	86.6%
1-unit, attached	9.4%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	6.4%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	16.5%	2.7%
20 or more units	11.5%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	1.3%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Durham County	Union County
Poverty rate	12.0%	7.7%
Average household size	2.28	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	23	30
Median year structure built	1993	1999