Wilber T. Reed House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Household incomes in Auburn are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 14.1% of residents; Nebraska has 10.6%. The two grades for Auburn are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in three work in Auburn; the top destination outside it is Lincoln (9%, 52 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Auburn apart on work
Auburn’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Auburn is Lincoln, 52 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (150) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Auburn
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Auburn is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #55 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment holds Auburn’s grade up (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from D− to B.
Short hops and long hauls from Auburn
About 34% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,090 residents head out to work, 509 work right here, and 879 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 (0.87 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.
The towns that employ Auburn’s residents
Where Auburn clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
What Auburn’s employers do
1,388 jobs are based in Auburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 1,452 → 1,388. 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.
Getting to work from Auburn takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,563 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 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.
In Auburn, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Auburn is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #28 of 57 in Nebraska. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across Nebraska.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,695 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). 6.9% of Auburn households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Auburn is 3,638th among 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Waverly NE | 4,533 | $112K | 0.5% | 0.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | Township 2 NE | 3,213 | $116K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 321 | Valley NE | 3,412 | $110K | 5.3% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,636 | Ridgecrest FL | 3,571 | $50K | 21.1% | 10.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,637 | Shelby MT | 3,313 | $58K | 13.8% | 3.7% | 41% | C− |
| 3,638 | Auburn NE | 3,498 | $58K | 14.1% | 4.1% | 32% | C− |
| 3,639 | Big Lake TX | 2,783 | $71K | 12.2% | 5.6% | 28% | C− |
| 3,640 | Shandaken NY | 2,813 | $66K | 19.9% | 3.5% | 17% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Nebraska.
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?
$57,531 (±$13,410) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
14.1%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
23 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lincoln (9%, 52 mi), Omaha (8%, 61 mi), Nebraska City (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% 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), 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.