Earning a living in Auburn
Working residents average 24 minutes each way, where Michigan has 24 and the U.S. 26. For jobs and income Auburn is better than 61% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−). Only 2% stay in Auburn for work; outside it, Midland is the main destination (24%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Auburn in brief
Auburn and Midland trade workers both ways
Midland is the top workplace for Auburn residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Auburn come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Auburn than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Auburn fell from 782 in 2011 to 480 in 2021, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published; with 807 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Auburn’s grade explained
The poverty rate holds Auburn’s grade up (6.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($71,653, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from C to A.
Where people from Auburn work
Where Auburn clocks in
24% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
480 jobs are based in Auburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2011 → 2021: 782 → 480. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Auburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Auburn
On a workday 792 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 465 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Auburn on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Auburn: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 854 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Auburn commutes
About 19% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Auburn, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,014 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.7% of Auburn households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Auburn ranks: 1,740th of 5,793 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,738 | Amherst WI | 1,404 | $94K | 6.4% | 1.4% | 3% | B |
| 1,739 | Caruthers CA | 1,683 | $88K | 11.6% | 4.0% | 8% | B |
| 1,740 | Auburn MI | 2,039 | $72K | 6.6% | 4.2% | 2% | B |
| 1,741 | Pleasant Township OH | 1,484 | $77K | 4.1% | 1.5% | 2% | B |
| 1,742 | Montalvin Manor CA | 2,063 | $80K | 9.4% | 5.6% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Michigan.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2021, 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?
$71,653 (±$14,513) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
6.6%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Midland (24%, 8 mi), Bay City (10%, 9 mi), Saginaw (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 2021, 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.