Guilford County vs Union County

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

Guilford 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.

Guilford County has the higher population (542,987 vs 244,975 in Union County). Union County has the higher median household income ($99,243 vs $66,027 in Guilford County). Union County has the higher median home value ($374,400 vs $234,900 in Guilford County).

Population, income & housing

	Guilford County	Union County
Population	542,987	244,975
Median age	37.4 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$66,027	$99,243
Median home value	$234,900	$374,400
Median gross rent	$1,108	$1,390
Housing units	235,833	86,730
Homeownership rate	60.0%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	38.1%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Guilford County	Union County
Population	527,868 → 542,987 (+2.9%)	231,053 → 244,975 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$53,261 → $66,027 (+24.0%)	$80,033 → $99,243 (+24.0%)
Median home value	$167,000 → $234,900 (+40.7%)	$241,400 → $374,400 (+55.1%)
Median gross rent	$878 → $1,108 (+26.2%)	$1,030 → $1,390 (+35.0%)

Guilford County

Population

527,868542,987

Median household income

$53,261$66,027

Median home value

$167,000$234,900

Median gross rent

$878$1,108

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)

	Guilford County	Union County
Under 5	5.6%	5.5%
5 to 17	16.5%	20.6%
18 to 24	11.7%	9.4%
25 to 34	13.4%	9.8%
35 to 44	12.3%	13.4%
45 to 54	12.6%	15.8%
55 to 64	12.3%	12.5%
65 to 74	9.3%	8.1%
75 and over	6.3%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Guilford County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	46.8%	68.0%
Black or African American	33.5%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	5.2%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.8%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	9.8%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Guilford County	Union County
No high school diploma	9.7%	9.6%
High school graduate	22.6%	22.8%
Some college or associate's	29.6%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	23.7%	25.6%
Graduate or professional degree	14.4%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Guilford County	Union County
Drove alone	74.5%	70.8%
Carpooled	8.4%	9.3%
Public transit	1.5%	0.2%
Walked	1.8%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.1%	18.0%
Other means	1.6%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Guilford County	Union County
1-unit, detached	62.7%	86.6%
1-unit, attached	6.1%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	14.7%	2.7%
20 or more units	7.5%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Guilford County	Union County
Poverty rate	15.2%	7.7%
Average household size	2.41	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	23	30
Median year structure built	1986	1999