Each town sets its own general rate. The bars below are one named municipality’s school / county / municipal split of that rate — not a single county-wide bill. State school aid is outside this bar; it reduces the school levy before the rate is struck. How NJ taxes work.
Union County at a glance
21 municipalities and 150,095 parcels are on the 2026 file. 0 of those towns have a 2026 general rate loaded. On a $500,000 sale in 2025, the estimated tax runs from $7,393 in Summit City to $14,114 in Roselle Boro. The middle bill is $10,396 in Garwood Boro. Class 2 residential assessments moved from $38,010,390,203 to $38,250,094,849, up 0.6%. The median class 2 house was built in 1950.
Median school-share town (rate year 2025): Springfield Twp
Among 21 municipalities on the 2025 rate sheet. Bars are Springfield Twp’s own components — not three separate county medians.
Schools
49.0%
County
16.7%
Municipal
34.3%
School-share range in 2025: Elizabeth City 18.6% → Scotch Plains Twp 66.6%.
How to read Union County
On the 2025 rate sheet, the middle municipality by school share is Springfield Twp: 49.0% schools, 16.7% county, 34.3% municipal. School share on that same sheet runs from Elizabeth City at 18.6% to Scotch Plains Twp at 66.6%.
Class 2 residential net assessments in this county changed from $38,010,390,203 to $38,250,094,849, up 0.6%, on 130,142 parcels with both a prior net and a 2026 net. That is the assessment roll for this county. It is not a list of which towns rose the most, and it is not an appraisal.
Estimated class 2 tax on the towns with both a prior rate and a current rate moved from $1,573,437,815 to $1,639,916,156, up 4.2%. Each of those 21 towns uses its own two rate years. The prior rate is as early as 2024 and the current rate is as late as 2025. This is not one calendar-year county levy. When a town reassesses, the assessment percent and this bill percent are different stories, because the rate falls as the assessments reset.
The largest class share of net assessed value in the 2026 file is Residential at 51.9%.
These are this county’s own figures. The general rate is not comparable across towns until each town’s assessment ratio is applied. The sale-price section states the tax on the same $200,000 sale and the same $500,000 sale after that ratio. Towns stay in legal-name order. State school aid is outside the rate bars.
Tax on a $200,000 or $500,000 sale, 2025
A sale price is not the assessment. In Union County for 2025, each town’s average ratio turns that price into an assessment, and that town’s general rate is applied to the assessment. On a $500,000 sale, the bill is $7,393 in Summit City (ratio 33.07%, rate 4.471) and $14,114 in Roselle Boro (ratio 30.86%, rate 9.147). The middle bill is $10,396 in Garwood Boro. A $200,000 sale uses the same ratio and rate in that town. This is an Abstract of Ratables estimate, not a collector bill, and the ratio is the town average, not an appraisal of one house.
Winfield Twp (general rate 23.411) is left off this table. That 2025 rate is on the Division of Taxation table and is not comparable with the other towns on a $500,000 sale, so the bill is not shown.
The highest residential estimate in Union County is $273,221 at 1-3 COMMERCE DR, Cranford Twp, on a net assessment of $3,769,600 and a 2025 general rate of 7.248.
The highest business estimate in Union County is $8,000,505 at 1900A BRUNSWICK AVE, Linden City, on a net assessment of $108,924,500 and a 2025 general rate of 7.345.
556 MORRIS AVE in Summit City is assessed at $153,900,000, higher than 1900A BRUNSWICK AVE in Linden City at $108,924,500. The estimated tax is still lower, $6,880,869 versus $8,000,505, because the general rates are 4.471 and 7.345.
Owner names are not shown. Each town’s own rate is used, so a higher assessment in a low-rate town can still be a lower tax. Commercial and industrial parcels (class 4A and 4B) are the business list. Apartment buildings are class 4C and are not in that list. This is not a collector’s bill.
Union County this year
21 municipalities sit on the 2026 assessment file with loaded 2025 rates.
Elizabeth City is municipal-heavy on the local rate sheet (~19% schools / 17% county / 64% municipal). Westfield Town is the school-heavy suburban contrast (~62% schools / 20% county / 18% municipal). Plainfield City also shows a large municipal share (~58%).
School-share extremes on the 2025 sheet run from Elizabeth to Scotch Plains Twp (~67% schools). The median school-share municipality is named above. Compare shares and equalized ratios — not general rates in isolation.
Sources: NJ Division of Taxation MOD-IV and Abstract of Ratables. Estimates are not collector bills. Disclaimer.
Housing stock in Union County, median year built 1950
On the 2026 file, class 2 houses in Union County with a year built have a median year of 1950, about 76 years old. Of those 125,847 houses, the largest share was built Before 1940. This is the assessor’s year built. It is not a ranking of towns.
By parcel count, Residential 86.7%, Vacant land 6.2%, Commercial 4.9%, Industrial 1.1%, Apartment 0.9%, Other / unclassified 0.2%, Farm (qualified) <0.1%, Farm (regular) <0.1%. Those percentages are a count of parcels, not a share of tax dollars. The class table uses the tax-base share.
Year built
Before 1940
36.1%
1940–1959
36.1%
1960–1979
13.9%
1980–1999
6.2%
2000–2009
4.1%
2010–2026
3.6%
Assessor building line
Grouped from the assessor’s building abbreviation. One-family, two-family, and condo are the codes that read clearly. Other codes stay in their own group. This is not a bedroom count, and square feet are left off because most records do not include them.
One-family
57,544 47.5%
Two-family
1,316 1.1%
Three-family or more
107 <0.1%
Condo
2,802 2.3%
Other codes
59,319 49.0%
Ratable base by property class
Share of net assessed value in the MOD-IV parcel file (not the Abstract value columns). Class 15 exempt parcels may be under-counted when net value is zero. This is the tax base mix, not a school rating.
Class
Parcels
Net assessed
% of net
Residential 2
130,201
$38,254,518,049
51.9%
Vacant land 1
9,240
$19,775,990,850
26.8%
Commercial 4A
7,399
$7,226,250,150
9.8%
Industrial 4B
1,643
$5,115,732,750
6.9%
Apartment 4C
1,287
$3,282,467,100
4.5%
Farm (regular) 3A
2
$312,100
0.0%
Farm (qualified) 3B
4
$31,620
0.0%
Other / unclassified other
319
$61,908,588
0.1%
Municipalities
Default order is legal name. The general rate is not comparable across towns with different equalized ratios and is not a ranking of tax burden. Percents are shares of school + county + municipal cents on the rate sheet.