Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Earning a living in Auburn
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average, where California has 29 and the U.S. 26. For jobs and income Auburn is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.8 in Sacramento.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Auburn
Commutes from Auburn are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Auburn draws workers from far and wide
The 7,165 jobs in Auburn are filled from a wide area. Auburn’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Auburn
Job access by car holds Auburn’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Commuting from Auburn: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,759 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
10% of working residents work in North Auburn
Where Auburn clocks in
9% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Auburn on a workday afternoon
On a workday 5,186 residents head out to work, 747 work right here, and 6,418 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Auburn: what the 7,165 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 9,384 → 7,165. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Auburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Auburn commutes less than 19 miles
About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Auburn is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,878 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 21% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.3% of Auburn households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000, Auburn comes 1,262nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,260 | Windsor Locks CT | 12,617 | $81K | 10.9% | 5.8% | 12% | B |
| 1,261 | Douglas Township IL | 12,693 | $75K | 13.1% | 2.1% | 43% | B |
| 1,262 | Auburn CA | 13,847 | $83K | 13.0% | 4.0% | 13% | B |
| 1,263 | Chesterton IN | 14,635 | $91K | 9.3% | 6.7% | 14% | B |
| 1,264 | Ferndale WA | 17,559 | $88K | 12.8% | 3.1% | 13% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Auburn, the top three, the last and three more from California.
10% of Auburn works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Auburn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | – | B | A | 21 min | $82,674 |
| North Auburn | 10% | B− | A− | 27 min | $71,056 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Auburn. Darker towns draw more of Auburn’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Auburn: questions
What is the median household income in Auburn?
$82,674 (±$8,466) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
13.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Auburn (10%, 2 mi), Sacramento (9%, 31 mi), Roseville (9%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Auburn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Auburn
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.