A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Union$1,540/mo

Typical home $260K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.85% · or rent about $858/mo · Housing →

Grain Valley$2,030/mo

Typical home $329K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.12% · or rent about $1,398/mo · Housing →

The difference: $490 a month, about $5,900 a year, between Grain Valley and Union.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Grain Valley places higher on 11 of 22 MO lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Missouri ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

C−UnionSafer than 15% of U.S. towns B−Grain ValleySafer than 54% of U.S. towns

Schools

B−UnionBetter than 50% of districts in the state AGrain ValleyBetter than 86% of districts in the state

Health

C+UnionHealthier than 42% of U.S. towns BGrain ValleyHealthier than 56% of U.S. towns

9Union

11Grain Valley

Lists won, of 22 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Highest graduation rateSchools · 216 towns #165#6 Cheapest rentCost of living · 256 towns #102#228 SafestSafety · 156 towns #117#50 Lowest obesityHealth · 261 towns #146#48 Most remote workersWork · 255 towns #120#41 Best schoolsSchools · 226 towns #124#67 Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 85 towns #4#25 Most walkableOutdoors · 261 towns #141#82

Left end = #1 in Missouri. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Union’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

UnionGrain Valley

Snow a year14″9″

January low23°F —

July high91°F —

Growing season (days)194d —

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)64th 49th

Outdoors & history

UnionGrain Valley

Trails2 mi 1 mi

Conserved land2.2%2.1%

Settled1826 1878

Archive photos7 3

Famous people born here3 1

Community

UnionGrain Valley

Library hours a week61 hrs 61 hrs

Colleges in town1 —

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

178 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

UnionMO Grain ValleyMO

Union ↔ Grain Valley178 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Missouri average

UnionGrain Valley

People

Population 12,781Lowest 16,271Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +21%Lowest MO: +2.8% +21.6%Highest MO: +2.8%

Median age 33.3±2.6Lowest 15% below MO 35.2±2.6Highest 10% below MO

Grain Valley and Union are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 26.4%±3.6Lowest MO: 22.3% 29.9%±4.1Highest MO: 22.3%

Grain Valley and Union are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 12.4%±1.7Highest MO: 17.9% 11.4%±1.8Lowest MO: 17.9%

Union and Grain Valley are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 23.7%Lowest MO: 32.4% 27.4%Highest MO: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 3.2%±1.1Highest MO: 5.7% 2.6%±0.9Lowest MO: 5.7%

Union and Grain Valley are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $73,435±$8kLowest 4% above MO $89,649±$8kHighest 27% above MO

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $205,200±$10kLowest 11% below MO $283,800±$13kHighest 23% above MO

Rentmedian gross, monthly $858±$53Lowest 17% below MO $1,398±$88Highest 35% above MO

Property taxmedian, yearly $1,739Lowest 11% below MO $3,182Highest 63% above MO

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 24.8%±7.5Lowest MO: 45.6% 37.7%±9.8Highest MO: 45.6%

Grain Valley and Union are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 8.1%Lowest MO: 12.6% 9.7%Highest MO: 12.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 60.6%Lowest MO: 68.1% 65%Highest MO: 68.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1996Lowest 18 yrs newer than MO 2002Highest 24 yrs newer than MO

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 24 minLowest about the MO average 26 minHighest 10% above MO

Work from home 9%±2.7Lowest MO: 13% 18%±4.9Highest MO: 13%

Work in townworking residents 18.5%Highest 6.3%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 24.8 miHighest 18.3 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.04Highest 0.42Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Washington (12%)Kansas City (25%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in Grain ValleyFew work in Union

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 2.2%Highest 2.1%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 2.3 miHighest 0.9 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.3 miHighest 0.1 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 8Highest 6Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 61.1Lowest 78.7Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #124 of 226 in MO #67 of 226 in MO

School district UNION R-XIGRAIN VALLEY R-V

High school in town Union HighGrain Valley High

Students per teacherat that high school 15.4Lowest 17.0Highest

Missouri average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Union neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Union’s Town Square.

Grain Valley neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Grain Valley’s Town Square.

Add a town

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Towns like Union

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Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks Missouri towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Union vs Grain Valley

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $490 more a month in Grain Valley

Grain Valley places higher on 11 of 22 MO lists

What daily life feels like in each

178 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Union and Grain Valley

Towns like Union

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