Johnston County vs Union County

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

Johnston 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 226,623 in Johnston County). Union County has the higher median household income ($99,243 vs $79,838 in Johnston County). Union County has the higher median home value ($374,400 vs $267,600 in Johnston County).

Population, income & housing

	Johnston County	Union County
Population	226,623	244,975
Median age	38.3 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$79,838	$99,243
Median home value	$267,600	$374,400
Median gross rent	$1,007	$1,390
Housing units	88,314	86,730
Homeownership rate	77.1%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.6%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Johnston County	Union County
Population	196,870 → 226,623 (+15.1%)	231,053 → 244,975 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$59,865 → $79,838 (+33.4%)	$80,033 → $99,243 (+24.0%)
Median home value	$165,100 → $267,600 (+62.1%)	$241,400 → $374,400 (+55.1%)
Median gross rent	$857 → $1,007 (+17.5%)	$1,030 → $1,390 (+35.0%)

Johnston County

Population

196,870226,623

Median household income

$59,865$79,838

Median home value

$165,100$267,600

Median gross rent

$857$1,007

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)

	Johnston County	Union County
Under 5	6.1%	5.5%
5 to 17	19.0%	20.6%
18 to 24	8.0%	9.4%
25 to 34	12.7%	9.8%
35 to 44	13.9%	13.4%
45 to 54	14.4%	15.8%
55 to 64	12.4%	12.5%
65 to 74	8.6%	8.1%
75 and over	4.9%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Johnston County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	62.7%	68.0%
Black or African American	16.5%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	0.8%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.0%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	16.2%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Johnston County	Union County
No high school diploma	10.5%	9.6%
High school graduate	27.5%	22.8%
Some college or associate's	34.3%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	20.0%	25.6%
Graduate or professional degree	7.7%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Johnston County	Union County
Drove alone	77.5%	70.8%
Carpooled	8.0%	9.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	0.7%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.1%	18.0%
Other means	0.6%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Johnston County	Union County
1-unit, detached	75.2%	86.6%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	3.2%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	2.7%
20 or more units	2.2%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	14.0%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Johnston County	Union County
Poverty rate	11.2%	7.7%
Average household size	2.73	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	32	30
Median year structure built	1999	1999