Union City is a city in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

, United States in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. The population in the 2020 census was 70,143, up from 69,628 in the 2010 census. It is located approximately south of

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and north of San Jose. It was incorporated in 1959, combining the communities of Alvarado and

Decoto Decoto is a neighborhood of Union City, California originally established as a separate community. It is located north-northwest of downtown Newark, along California State Route 238. History In 1867, Ezra Decoto, a local landowner sold land t ...

. Alvarado is a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

(#503). The city celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land with no bay frontage. The

Niles Cone The Niles Cone is a groundwater basin in Alameda County, California, United States which is the source of drinking water for a sizeable human urban population in the East Bay. The land area corresponding to this groundwater basin is approximat ...

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

, managed by the

Alameda County Water District The Alameda County Water District (ACWD) is a public agency in Alameda County, California, United States, which has responsibilities for managing and protecting certain groundwater resources within Alameda County. While most of the county is serv ...

, supplies much of the water consumed by Union City. Hayward bounds the city to the north and Fremont and Newark to the south. Union City, Newark and Fremont are known as the Tri-Cities.

Demographics

2020

According to the 2020 census estimate, the

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city is $142,374. Males have a

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

of $59,274 versus $40,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $31,411. About 4.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

Costanoans ("coastal peoples") were the first inhabitants, living along

Alameda An alameda is a street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada * Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan ** Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile * Alameda (Santi ...

and Dry Creeks. Shell mounds along the sloughs of Alameda Creek near the Alvarado sugar mill contained burial sites. The first non-native community was founded in 1850 by John and William Horner, who named it "Union City" after their

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

Steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

, "The Union". In 1854, it merged with the nearby community of New Haven (founded 1851) to form the town of Alvarado, named after a former Mexican governor,

Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) usually known as Juan Bautista Alvarado, was a Californio politician that served as governor of Alta California from 1837 to 1842. Prior to his term as governor, Al ...

. Alvarado was the first

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...

, a designation it lost in 1865 to

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the south ...

. Further east,

was founded in 1870 as a railroad hub, hosting the

first transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

. Alvarado-Niles Road, one of the city's largest streets, connects the historical Fremont district of Niles with the historical Union City district of Alvarado. The California Beet Sugar Company, the US' first successful

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

mill, was located in Alvarado and began operations in 1870. The plant was

demolished Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...

in 1977. Union City is a former railroad and steel town with an extensive industrial heritage. The Pacific States Steel Company occupied the land behind Union City Station that is redeveloping into the Union City Station District Downtown. The Alvarado and Decoto neighborhoods were both former railroad hubs and active railroad lines bisect both East End and the West Side of town. Trains are a way of life in Union City and natives are accustomed to waiting for Amtrak and freight trains to cross while commuting. In the 1950s, Alvarado and Decoto – the latter making up the eastern side of the town – were annexation targets of the nearby communities of Newark, Hayward, and what would become Fremont. On January 13, 1959, they decided to incorporate into a single city, and named it after the Horners' original settlement, Union City. Tom Kitayama served as the city's first mayor in 1959 and was involved in Union City politics until his 1991 retirement. The population grew from 6,000 in 1959 to 70,000 in 2020. In 2016, Union City started to rebrand and unveiled a new city seal. Union City opened a new Teen Center in 2018. In March 2025, the city of Union City rolled out new city branded color coded trash carts with Republic Services and local Tri-CED community recycling to meet state and local goals.

Economy

Union City is the location of the American Licorice Company's West Coast operations, which moved there in 1971."Candy"; ''

Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'', formally known under A&E as ''Time Machine'', is a television series first aired by the History Channel in 1995, but previously under A&E starting December 10, 1993. It is the History Channel's first and longest-running prog ...

'';

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

; 2006; Viewed July 15, 2010. Union City is home to three major health care providers: a

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...

facility, the

Tiburcio Vasquez Tiburcio, the Spanish form of Tiburtius, may refer to: * Tiburcio Carías Andino (1876–1969), Honduran military strongman * Tiburcio de León, Filipino general (the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War) * José Tiburcio Serrizuela ...

Health Center, and Washington Hospital's Nakamura Clinic. Union City hosts industrial and shipping companies, including R&S Manufacturing, RCD Concrete, Jatco, and EntirelyPets.

Shopping

Union Landing Shopping Center is a shopping center, adjacent to Interstate 880. It is one of the largest centers in the city and supports about 70 stores. The mall was completed in 1999. The land was previously a drive-in movie park. A

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

shopping center sits near the Hayward/Union City border.

Employers

According to Union City's June 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:

Education

In 2014

New Haven Unified School District New Haven Unified School District (also known as NHUSD) is a public school district serving approximately 10,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) students at 11 schools in Union City and South Hayward, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Th ...

enrolls 10,000 students from Union City and Hayward. The district consists of seven (K-5) elementary schools, two (6–8) middle schools, one comprehensive high school (

James Logan High School James Logan High School (also known as JLHS or Logan) is a public high school located in Union City, California. It is part of the New Haven Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area. Awards In 1994 and 1998, Logan was recognized as ...

) with approximately 3,000 students enrolled. In addition, James Logan houses a 3,000-seat gymnasium and a 4,000 seat football stadium with lights. Lastly one adult/K-12 independent study school program is available. In December 2015, New Haven Unified School District renamed Alvarado Middle School to Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School in honor of

Philip Vera Cruz Philip Villamin Vera Cruz (December 25, 1904 – June 12, 1994) was a Filipino American labor leader and farmworker. He helped found the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), which later merged with the National Farm Workers Associ ...

and

Larry Itliong Modesto "Larry" Dulay Itliong (October 25, 1913 – February 1977), also known as "Seven Fingers", was a Filipino-American union organizer. He organized West Coast agricultural workers starting in the 1930s, and rose to national prominence in ...

. The school district added solar power at school sites to cut energy costs. An arts center and new track and field are available at James Logan High School. New Haven Unified School District's first teacher strike came in 2019. Cornerstone International College, located at 725 Whipple Rd., is the city's first post-secondary institution. Union City lies within the Ohlone Community College District and Chabot-Las Positas Community College District.

Transport

Several transit systems serve Union City, including

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

, the

Dumbarton Express Dumbarton Express is a regional public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties via the Dumbarton Bridge, the system's namesake. The bus service is funded by a consortium of five tr ...

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART), and Union City Transit. The latter started in 1974 and runs 6 bus lines throughout Union City and parts of Hayward. BART came to Union City when the system opened in 1972. In 2007 the Union City BART station was rebuilt and developed into

Union City Intermodal Transit Station Union City station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Union City, California. The station sits near Decoto Road east of Alvarado-Niles Road, directly behind the James Logan High School campus. The station is served by the Orange and ...

. Union City is served by a network of high-capacity streets, with four exits on Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway). Highway 238 also serves the city ( Mission Boulevard). Quarry Lakes Parkway, formerly known as the East–West Connector, is a roadway project that connects Mission Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway.

Station district

Union City invested $100 million into an expansion of the downtown district, including development surrounding the BART station, which links BART with rail services:

Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...

Dumbarton Rail Corridor The Dumbarton Rail Corridor is a proposed transbay passenger rail line which would reuse the right-of-way that was initially constructed from 1907–1910 as the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, Dumbarton Cut-off. The Dumbarton Cut-off includes the first ...

and

Altamont Corridor Express The Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs. Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional R ...

(ACE). Construction has started on 800 mixed units east of bart station known as station east near Decoto Road.

Government

Union City runs a

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government commonly used for municipalities and counties in the United States and Ireland, in New Zealand regional councils, and in Canadian municipalities. In the council-manager government, ...

. The City Council consists of five representatives on a part-time basis. On November 3, 2020, the city switched from citywide elections to districts. The Mayor is elected at large. As of December 2024 the elected officials were: Gary Singh mayor,Lance Nishihira Jaime Patiño, Jeff Wang, and Scott Sakakihara. The mayor and elected council members serve a 4-year term, with a 3-term limit. A utility tax was passed in November 2020.

Politics

In 2017, Union City had 35,857 registered voters with 19,644 (54.8%) registered as Democrats, 4,200 (11.7%) registered as Republicans, and 10,693 (29.8%) registered as decline to state voters.

Media

The monthly East Bay Echo and bi-weekly ''

Tri-City Voice The ''Tri-City Voice'' is a weekly San Francisco Bay Area newspaper based in Fremont, California, and covering the cities of Fremont, Newark, Union City, Hayward, Milpitas and Sunol. History It was founded in 2002, and went online at tric ...

'' newspapers offer local news. Union City Patch served the community and is part of Patch.com.

Culture

The first

factory in the United States was located in Union City, called the California Beet Sugar Company. It is noted by a

#768, situated at Dyer and Ratekin.

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a feder ...

Memorial is in Sugar Mill Landing Park. It was the first monument completed in the United States designed to honor the passengers and crew of

United Airlines Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a feder ...

, which was bound for

, but was hijacked and crashed in rural

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Courthouse

Alameda County's first courthouse was located in Alvarado, starting on June 6, 1853. The original courthouse was a two-story wooden building that was originally a mercantile that included a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. It was built by A. M. Church and Henry C. Smith. In 1865 the county seat moved to

. With the widening of Union City Blvd., the original site was paved over. The site is listed on the

California Historical Landmarks A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

list.

Masonic Home

Masonic Home at Union City, a senior living community for

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and their spouses, has as its centerpiece a large brick administration building. The administration building was identified as a significant historic property in the 1974 Historic Resource Inventory of Washington Township. Interior features include a main staircase with stained glass windows, a parlor filled with antiques, and paintings of fourteen Masonic US presidents. The original five-story brick building formed the center of the Administration Building. It was constructed in 1898 and was the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home overlooking Decoto. The north and south wings of the Administration Building were added in 1914 and 1928, respectively. Ten more buildings were built on this campus, including Acacia Creek, a continuing care retirement community for all seniors, both Masons and non-Masons, completed in 2010.

Climate

Sister cities

Union City's

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are: * Asadabad, Afghanistan *

Baybay Baybay (IPA: aɪ'baɪ, officially the City of Baybay (; ), is a component city in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It has a population of 111,848 people. With an area of , it is the second largest city in the province after Ormoc. Former ...

, Philippines *

Chiang Rai Chiang Rai (, ; , ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai was established as a capital city in the reign of King Ma ...

, Thailand *

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

, India *

Liyang Liyang () is a county-level city under the administration of Changzhou in the Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. In 2020, it had a population of 785,092. It borders the prefecture-level divisions of Wuxi to the east, Xuanchen ...

, China *

Mulegé Mulegé is a city in Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur, situated on the Gulf of California. Located on the Gulf of California, the population was 3,834 according to the Mexican census of 2020. History Indigenous peoples have lived in ...

, Mexico *

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

, Philippines

Notable people

* Stephen Abas - Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling * Otis Amey - Professional football player *

Joey Bragg Joseph Franklin Bragg (born July 20, 1996) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role as Joey Rooney in the Disney Channel sitcom '' Liv and Maddie'' (2013–2017). Early life and education Bragg was born on July 20, 1996 in U ...

- Actor, comedian, formerly on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

television series ''

Liv and Maddie ''Liv and Maddie'' is an American comedy television series created by John D. Beck and Ron Hart. It premiered on Disney Channel on July 19, 2013, and concluded after four seasons on March 24, 2017, with the episode "End-a-Rooney", which was al ...

'' * Angelina Camarillo - Former pop singer, also associated with NB Ridaz *

Vicky Galindo Victoria Noel Galindo-Piatt (born December 22, 1983), commonly known as Vicky Galindo, is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, three-time professional All-Star, softball player and current head coach at West Va ...

- U.S. softball player *

Eddie House Edward Lee House II (born May 14, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard known for his three-point shooting, House played for nine NBA teams in 11 seasons in the league. He was a member of the Boston Celtics team that ...

- Professional basketball player * Aaron Ledesma - Former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player *

Darren Lewis Darren Joel Lewis (born August 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played center field in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1990), San Francisco Giants (1991–1995), Cincinnati Reds (1995), Ch ...

- Former Major League Baseball player *

Raaginder Raaginder Singh Momi (/ɹɔɚɡdɝ/; born November 27, 1992) better known by his stage name raaginder is a Union City, California based violinist, music producer and songwriter of Punjabi descent. His professional music career began in 2011 when h ...

- Musician and violinist *

SuChin Pak SuChin Pak (, born August 15, 1976) is a South Korean-born American television news correspondent and podcaster, best known from her early days working for MTV News. She joined MTV News as a correspondent in May 2001. Since 2021, she has resume ...

- MTV VJ *

Kelli White Kelli White (born April 1, 1977, in Oakland, California) is an American former sprinter. She won two gold medals in the World Championships in Paris in 2003. However, on June 18, 2004, she was stripped of her medals, because she tested positive ...

- Sprinter * Roy Williams - Professional football player *

Avantika Vandanapu Avantika Vandanapu ( ; ; born January 25, 2005), known mononymously as Avantika, is an American actress and singer. She began her career with the 2016 Telugu film ''Brahmotsavam'' and later took on several other projects within Telugu cinema. ...

- Actress

References

External links

*
Union City Chamber of Commerce

Union City Library
{{authority control Incorporated cities and towns in California Cities in Alameda County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area 1959 establishments in California Populated coastal places in California