Union City, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Union City · Fulton County, Georgia
Population 27,300 (est. 2026: ~28,800)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 1.57% annual growth projection

Union City, Georgia

Fulton County, Georgia · Population 26,830

Union City sits in the southwestern corner of Fulton County, roughly 15 miles from downtown Atlanta. It is one of the cities that make up the dense constellation of municipalities in South Fulton — a part of metro Atlanta that is frequently overshadowed by its northern neighbors but holds a genuinely distinct identity. Union City is a majority-Black city with a young population, a working-class economic profile, and direct access to the Atlanta metro job market via Interstate 85. It is not a suburb in the leafy, sprawling sense — it is a compact urban community where the majority of households rent, incomes run below the county median, and the population skews notably younger than the surrounding county.

People & Demographics

Union City's population of 26,830 is young — the median age is 32.7, compared to Fulton County's broader and more varied demographic spread across its 1,066,710 residents. The city is overwhelmingly Black, with 23,725 of 26,869 residents identifying as Black or African American. The Hispanic and Latino population stands at 1,324. The white population is 1,127.

There are 11,311 occupied households in the city, with an average household size of 2.36. Family households number 6,289. Children under 18 account for 7,249 residents — roughly 27 percent of the total population, a share that reflects the city's comparatively young age structure.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Union City is $46,696, and per capita income is $26,549. Both figures sit well below Fulton County's overall median and below Georgia's statewide median household income. The poverty rate is meaningful: 3,313 residents — approximately 12 percent of the population — fall below the federal poverty line.

Of 13,978 residents in the labor force, 642 are unemployed, an unemployment rate of roughly 4.6 percent. The city's workforce participates primarily in the broader Atlanta metro economy, with most residents commuting outward for employment.

Housing

Union City has 12,010 total housing units, of which 11,311 are occupied and 699 sit vacant — a vacancy rate of about 5.8 percent, which is low and suggests a reasonably tight market.

The split between owners and renters is heavily weighted toward renters: 6,602 renter-occupied units versus 4,709 owner-occupied units. That means roughly 58 percent of occupied households rent. The median home value is $201,400 — modest by Fulton County standards, where values in northern portions of the county reach several times that figure. Median gross rent is $1,186 per month.

For buyers, Union City offers one of the more accessible entry points in Fulton County. For renters, the cost-to-income ratio is worth scrutinizing given the median household income.

Schools

Elementary-age children in Union City are served by three Fulton County Schools campuses, all covering pre-K through grade 5:

Combined enrollment across the three schools is approximately 2,153 students.

Getting Around

Union City is a driving city. Of 12,887 workers, 9,692 drove alone to work — 75 percent. Another 943 carpooled. Only 288 used public transit, and 51 walked. 1,218 residents worked from home.

Average commute times are substantial. The aggregate travel time across all workers is 317,775 minutes, which works out to roughly 24.7 minutes per worker per trip. That number is consistent with the reality of commuting from South Fulton into the Atlanta core or to employment centers along the I-85 corridor. MARTA rail does not serve Union City directly; residents relying on transit connect via bus routes.

Healthcare

Union City itself does not have a major hospital within its boundaries, but its position within the Atlanta metro means substantial hospital infrastructure is within reach. Fulton County hospitals accessible to Union City residents include Grady Memorial Hospital, Piedmont Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Northside Hospital, WellStar North Fulton Medical Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, and Anchor Hospital. For individual healthcare providers practicing in Union City, the NPI Registry lists licensed clinicians by city and specialty.

Library

The Gladys S. Dennard Library at South Fulton serves Union City residents and is reachable at (404) 613-3092. It is part of the Fulton County Library System and functions as the primary public library branch for this portion of South Fulton.

Parks & Recreation

Three National Park Service units are within reasonable distance of Union City:

Natural Hazards

Fulton County's FEMA disaster declaration history is long and varied. Declared events affecting the county since 1998 include:

The pattern reflects two persistent risk categories for this part of Georgia: tropical remnants tracking inland from the Gulf and Atlantic, and winter storms capable of paralyzing the metro area. The 2014 winter storm declarations are a reminder that even modest ice events have historically shut down the Atlanta region. Hurricane Helene produced two separate federal declarations in September 2024.

Government & Municipal Code

Union City's municipal code is published through Municode and is publicly accessible at library.municode.com/ga/union_city. The city does not have a locally adopted building code on file with this publisher.

Weather

Current forecasts for Union City are available through the National Weather Service. Active weather alerts can be checked at alerts.weather.gov. The nearest surface observation station is Fairburn 0.6 NW, located approximately 3.4 miles away.

References

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)