Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,442, platted in 1836.
Auburn gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $181K for a typical one, or 2.4 years of the Springfield metro’s $76K median household income. It grades A− overall, 229th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. Auburn’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile, above both Illinois’ towns (0.3) and U.S. towns (0.4).
Where Auburn beats most towns.
Where Auburn’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Auburn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 288 in 1880, 4,574 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2019 and 2 maps from 1922 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Auburn, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Auburn.
Auburn pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Illinois norm, but it has seen reported crime rise by a third or more.
In the comparison, Auburn comes below both the Illinois town median (3.7%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). 4.8 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Park | — | 10 |
| 2. (Fall) Corn Maze | — | 5 |
| 3. Pohlod Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Auburn grades A− overall with a typical home of about $181K, below the Illinois typical value; only 48 of the 183 Illinois towns graded A− or better can say that. The median property tax bill is $2,188, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 8.1% in the year to September 2026. 84% of households own their home in Auburn.
| Auburn | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,011 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Auburn for work: only 10% work in town. Since 2013, Auburn has lost 98 jobs, to 767 in 2023. The top destinations are Springfield (45%), Chatham (3%) and Virden (2%).
| Auburn | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.9% | 8.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Auburn beats the Illinois average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 20% of Auburn adults binge drink.
| Auburn | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 11% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 23% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Auburn | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11% | 15.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes rose from 27 to 35 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. At 12.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 54% of Illinois’s graded towns.
Auburn’s violent crime rate is 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Auburn | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Auburn has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Auburn. Close and well known come first.
Big draw18 mi LandmarkLincoln Tomb
16 mi National Historic SiteLincoln Home National Historic Site124K visitors a year17 mi National MonumentSpringfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument
16 mi MuseumOld State Capitol State Historic Site
28 mi MuseumLincoln's New Salem
16 mi MuseumIllinois State MuseumLincoln Tomb: David Jones, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Lincoln Home National Historic Site: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Old State Capitol State Historic Site: Shadow2700 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Lincoln's New Salem: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Illinois State Museum: Mike Linksvayer from Oakland, California, CC0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Auburn
About 2 of every 100 Auburn residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
City in Illinois, United States
Auburn is a city in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Auburn had a population of 4,574. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Auburn grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #229 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and B− for schools.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
Auburn was platted in 1836. 2 notable people were born here, including Dutch Leonard and Roswell Magill.
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