The Real Cost of Owning Property in Union, WA
Union sits in unincorporated Mason County, on the elbow of Hood Canal where State Route 106 links US 101 to the south with State Route 3 to the north. That crossroads location is real and genuinely useful -- but it doesn't erase the cost structure of rural Pacific Northwest waterfront ownership: septic and well systems instead of municipal water and sewer, a single regional electric utility prone to storm outages, and a property tax bill built from county and special-district levies rather than a city rate. This page lays out what actually shows up in an owner's annual and one-time costs, and flags plainly where this research could not confirm a specific dollar figure.
No City Services Means No City Tax -- But Also No City Water or Sewer
Union has no incorporated city or town government of its own; it is unincorporated Mason County land, a census-designated place rather than a municipality. That has a real upside for the tax bill (no separate city levy layered on top of the county's, covered in full on the Property Tax Guide page) and a real cost consequence on the utility side: there is no municipal water or sewer system serving Union's homes. Nearly every property here runs on a private well and an on-site septic system, and both are the homeowner's direct financial responsibility -- not a monthly utility bill, but periodic capital and maintenance costs a buyer moving from a municipally-served market may not be budgeting for by default.
A private well requires periodic testing (Mason County requires a water sample and well report within the prior 12 months as part of certain permitting processes) and, eventually, pump replacement or re-drilling if yield or water quality degrades -- costs that don't appear on a typical listing sheet. A septic system requires regular pumping and, per Washington's on-site sewage rules, periodic inspection; a system nearing the end of its service life or undersized for a planned renovation can be a five-figure repair or replacement, and given that Washington requires a minimum 200-foot setback between a septic drainfield and marine waters (with some Puget Sound-adjacent jurisdictions requiring even larger drainfield setbacks from the ordinary high water mark), a narrow waterfront lot may have real constraints on where a replacement system can even go. Get a current septic inspection report and well log before making an offer, not after.
Electricity: Mason County PUD No. 3, and Real Storm Exposure
Power in Union runs through Mason County PUD No. 3, a public utility district serving roughly 37,000 customers across the county, with its own outage-reporting line and a public real-time outage map. That's a normal, functional regional utility -- but it's also directly exposed to the Pacific Northwest's real, recurring windstorm pattern (see the Hurricane & Storm Risk page for the 1962 Columbus Day Storm and 2006 Hanukkah Eve Storm), and rural Hood Canal shoreline routes can be among the last restored after a major outage given the terrain and tree cover. Many longtime Hood Canal owners budget for a backup generator as a practical cost of ownership, not a luxury -- this page did not confirm a specific current generator cost or installation price for Union specifically, and recommends getting a quote from a licensed local electrician.
This page does not have a confirmed current average monthly PUD 3 electric bill for a Union household, since usage varies enormously by home size, heating system, and whether a property is a full-time or seasonal residence. Contact Mason County PUD No. 3 directly for current rate schedules.
Property Tax and Insurance: Real Line Items, Not Guessed Numbers
Washington has no state income tax, which shifts more of the cost of funding schools, county government, and emergency services onto property tax -- covered in full detail, including Mason County's specific levy structure and the statutory '1% levy limit' framework, on this site's Property Tax Guide page. This page does not restate a specific current rate here; get the current assessed value and levy breakdown for a specific Union parcel directly from the Mason County Assessor's Office.
Insurance is a similarly real, parcel-specific cost. Washington homeowners insurance does not, as a standard matter, include earthquake coverage -- a separate policy or endorsement is the norm, worth real budgeting attention given the region's documented Cascadia Subduction Zone exposure, covered on the Hurricane & Storm Risk and Coastal Insurance Explained pages. Waterfront property may also face different underwriting than an upland Union parcel; a Washington-licensed insurance agent is the right source for a current quote on any specific address.
Waterfront Premium and Dock/Marina Costs
A property directly on Hood Canal in Union carries a real premium over an upland or SR 106-corridor parcel, though this page did not find a confirmed, Union-specific dollar or percentage premium figure -- only a single, unverified third-party estimate putting Union's overall median home value at roughly $550,000 against a Mason County median near $352,000, which speaks to the town's overall desirability but doesn't isolate the waterfront-versus-inland gap specifically. See the Waterfront vs. Non-Waterfront page for a fuller discussion of that trade-off.
For anyone planning to build or maintain a private dock, add the real cost of Washington's dock-permitting process -- a Hydraulic Project Approval from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, plus Mason County Shoreline Master Program compliance -- to the physical construction cost itself, covered in full on the Dock & Pier Guide page. Alternatively, both Alderbrook Resort's 1,200-foot marina and the historic Union Marina offer paid moorage as an alternative to private dock ownership, though this page did not confirm current long-term slip rates at either and recommends contacting each directly.
What Union Doesn't Cost You, Compared to a Ferry-Dependent Island Market
Worth stating plainly, since several other Puget Sound-region markets on this site are ferry-dependent islands: Union has no ferry cost, ferry schedule dependency, or ferry-reliability risk of the kind a Washington State Ferries-served island market carries. It's reached entirely by road -- SR 106 connecting to US 101 and SR 3 -- which is a genuine, ongoing cost and logistics advantage for anyone who wants year-round, all-hours vehicle access without a boat schedule dictating their day. That doesn't make the drive itself free, of course: Union sits roughly two to two-and-a-half hours by road from Seattle via Tacoma and Highway 3, a real commute-time cost for anyone treating this as a Seattle-adjacent purchase rather than a genuinely rural or retirement-oriented one.
This page does not have a confirmed current gas/mileage cost estimate for that drive, nor a confirmed average commute time given real-world traffic variability on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge corridor -- treat any specific number found elsewhere as approximate and confirm current conditions before assuming a commute is practical for daily work travel.
What This Page Does Not Know
This page does not have a confirmed current average septic pumping, well maintenance, or generator installation cost specific to Union; a confirmed current Mason County PUD 3 average monthly electric bill; a confirmed waterfront-versus-inland price premium specific to Union (as opposed to the single county-wide comparison estimate cited above); or confirmed current dock construction and permitting costs for a Union parcel. None of these figures are guessed here.
Before budgeting a purchase, get a current septic inspection and well report for the specific property, a current insurance quote from a Washington-licensed agent, the current assessed value and levy rate from the Mason County Assessor, and a conversation with a local buyer's agent about realistic all-in ownership costs for the specific parcel under consideration.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Sourced from: Mason County's own government website (masoncountywa.gov) for well-report and septic-permitting requirements; Washington State septic regulation summaries (septicclarity.com, septictankhub.com, davissepticdesign.com) for the 200-foot marine-water drainfield setback standard and 2025 code updates; Mason County PUD No. 3's own website (pud3.org) for customer count and outage-reporting infrastructure; the Oregon Encyclopedia, OPB, and FOX Weather for the 1962 Columbus Day Storm; regional reporting for the 2006 Hanukkah Eve Storm; Alderbrook Resort & Spa's own website for marina details; and NeighborhoodScout for a single, explicitly unverified median-home-value estimate for Union versus Mason County. Facts not independently confirmed and not invented here include: current average septic, well, or generator costs specific to Union; a current average PUD 3 monthly electric bill; a confirmed waterfront-versus-inland price premium; current dock construction and permitting costs; and a confirmed typical Seattle-area commute time or cost. Confirm all current figures directly with the Mason County Assessor's Office, Mason County PUD No. 3, a licensed septic/well contractor, a Washington-licensed insurance agent, and a local buyer's agent before making a purchase decision. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, financial, or insurance advice.