Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Households in Auburn earn more than those in 87% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Auburn; the top destination outside it is Worcester (26%, 5 miles). Poverty touches 5.2% of residents; Massachusetts has 10.0%. The two grades for Auburn are A for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Auburn stands out on work
Auburn trades workers with the towns around it
Auburn has about as many jobs (10,108) as working residents (8,842), but they are mostly different people: 7,972 residents leave for work each day while 9,238 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Auburn are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Auburn and Worcester trade workers both ways
Worcester is the top workplace for Auburn residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Auburn come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Auburn draws workers from far and wide
The 10,108 jobs in Auburn are filled from a wide area. Auburn’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 36%; the other 55% 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.
Why Auburn gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Auburn is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #89 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($116,711, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Who leaves Auburn for work, and who comes in
On a workday 7,972 residents head out to work, 870 work right here, and 9,238 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 (1.14 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.
Out of Auburn to work: where people go
Where Auburn clocks in
26% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
66% of the jobs in Auburn pay over $3,333 a month
10,108 jobs are based in Auburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 9,649 → 10,108. 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.
About 26 minutes each way, quicker than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,664 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Auburn goes to work
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.
Most of Auburn commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Auburn is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #188 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,922 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 53% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 6.5% of Auburn households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Auburn next to U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000: 401st of 2,103 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Sharon MA | 18,798 | $192K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 399 | Glenn Dale MD | 13,772 | $134K | 2.0% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| 400 | La Palma CA | 14,907 | $118K | 5.0% | 3.9% | 2% | A |
| 401 | Auburn MA | 17,566 | $117K | 5.2% | 3.6% | 10% | A |
| 402 | Minneola FL | 21,064 | $111K | 4.7% | 3.0% | 2% | A |
| 403 | Norwalk IA | 15,004 | $103K | 4.2% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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 Massachusetts.
28% of Auburn works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Worcester. 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?
$116,711 (±$9,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
5.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (26%, 5 mi), Boston (7%, 44 mi), Marlborough (3%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 15% 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.