Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Auburn earns a D, 126th of 142 graded towns in Maine. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 25 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Holman Day House and Edward Little House. Only 7 of Maine’s 92 towns score lower on safety. Auburn is home to Central Maine Community College.
Where Auburn beats most towns.
Its 25 National Register listings are more than in 97% of Maine towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,840 in 1850, 24,061 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1857 and 4 maps from 1908 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Auburn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
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 Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Auburn.
Auburn draws workers from Lewiston and beyond and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Maine; it also reports violent crime at about twice the Maine rate.
16,564 jobs are based in Auburn, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Auburn’s working residents works in town. 14% of Auburn residents live below the poverty line, above both the Maine town median (9%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). The average trip to work in Auburn is 22 minutes.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 12% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Auburn Public Schools. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 499 | C |
| Edward Little High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,045 | C+ |
| East Auburn Community SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 152 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 2.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Maine rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C. At 30.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 88% of Maine’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 541 to 642 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
At 22.9 per 1,000 residents, Auburn’s property crime rate is where Maine’s towns sit at 7.4 and U.S. towns at 9.9. Auburn’s violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.9 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 54 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Auburn.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
28 miles of trail in 21 parks and preserves. Mount Apatite Park, at 320 acres with 8.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.6% | 4.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Apatite Park | 8.8 mi | 320 |
| 2. Sherwood Forest Conservation Area | 0.7 mi | 27 |
| 3. Pettingill Park | 0.5 mi | 45 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Auburn home is worth about $324,000, up 0.8% in a year, 21% below the Maine typical home. 59% of households own their home in Auburn.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,041 a month | $1,108 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Lewiston weather station records that 65 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 92% of Maine places with climate records. July afternoons average 79.7°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 85% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 10.3°.
Auburn has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 10°F | 10°F | 22°F |
| July high | 80°F | 79°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Auburn beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 29% of Auburn adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Auburn | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.7% | 14.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.7% | 7.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 13.8% | 10.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Auburn has grown 5.7% since 2020, to 25,441 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Auburn | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 41.4 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 22% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 43.1, men 39.7.
| Auburn | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.3% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.1% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.8% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.2% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.9% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.1% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.1% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.9% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.8% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Auburn. Close and well known come first.
32 mi LighthousePortland Head Light32 mi Ancient sitePopham Colony
29 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
29 mi MuseumMaine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum
30 mi MuseumPortland Museum of Art32 mi LandmarkSpirit Pond runestonesPortland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum: No machine-readable author provided. Gwernol assumed (based on copyright claims), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Portland Museum of Art: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Auburn
About 6 of every 100 Auburn residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
25 places in Auburn on the National Register of Historic Places.
22 notable people were born in Auburn.
City in Maine, United States
Auburn is a city in south-central Maine, within the United States. Settled in the foothills of the Western Lakes and Mountains region of the state, the city serves as the county seat of Androscoggin County. The population was 24,061 at the 2020 census. Auburn and its sister city Lewiston are known locally as the Twin Cities or Lewiston–Auburn (L–A).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Auburn.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | #126 | D | C− | C | C+ | C+ |
| Lewiston | #138 | D | C | C | D− | C− |
| Minot | #97 | C | B | — | C− | C |
| Poland | #118 | C− | C | — | C− | B |
| Greene | #117 | C− | C | — | B− | C |
| Durham | #50 | B | C | — | A | B+ |
| New Gloucester | #13 | A | B | — | B− | A− |
Minot, Poland, Greene, Durham and New Gloucester report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Auburn with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Auburn grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #126 of 142 in Maine. It grades C+ for health, C for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
22 notable people were born here, including Elmer Drew Merrill and George S. Hammond.
