City comparison
Los Angeles, CA is about 2,500 miles (3,900 km) from Union City, NJ in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 3,100 miles, or about 51 hours (about 5 days at 10 h/day) behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Los Angeles, CA to Union City, NJ takes about 4 h 54 min, covering roughly 2,500 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Los Angeles, CA is on Pacific Time and Union City, NJ is on Eastern Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in Los Angeles, it's 3 p.m. in Union City, which puts Los Angeles 3 hours behind.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Los Angeles has a population of 3,881,041, vs 67,258 in Union City — about 57.7× larger by population. By land area, Los Angeles covers about 470 sq mi vs 1.3 sq mi for Union City.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Los Angeles | Union City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,791/mo | $1,415/mo | 26.6% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median home value | $822,600 | $448,000 | 83.6% higher in Los Angeles |
| Median household income | $76,244 | $59,967 | 27.1% higher in Los Angeles |
| Groceries index | 106.4 | 109.4 | 2.8% higher in Union City |
| Utilities index | 151.7 | 124.5 | 21.8% higher in Los Angeles |
| Transportation index | 104.0 | 105.0 | 0.9% higher in Union City |
| Healthcare index | 104.3 | 105.7 | 1.3% higher in Union City |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Los Angeles, you'd need $91,806 in Union City to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Union City, NJ is about 8.2% cheaper overall than Los Angeles, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 16% higher in Los Angeles than in Union City. If you earn $80,000 in Los Angeles, you'd need about $73,445 in Union City to keep the same standard of living.