Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Auburn’s household incomes are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 19.5% of residents (New York 14.0%). Auburn grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 9.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Auburn and work: the main findings
How Auburn earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Auburn is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #627 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Auburn’s grade up (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,052, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from D to C+.
From Auburn, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,435 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The workday shuffle in and out of Auburn
On a workday 6,883 residents head out to work, 3,466 work right here, and 8,210 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 (1.13 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.
6% of working residents work in Syracuse
Where Auburn clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
What work there is in Auburn: 11,676 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 13,341 → 11,676. 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.
Miles to work from Auburn
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Auburn is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Auburn is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #138 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Auburn near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,071 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 69% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 14.9% of Auburn households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Auburn is 1,402nd of 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | New Castle NY | 18,259 | $250K | 2.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,400 | Eel Township IN | 18,549 | $48K | 16.9% | 4.4% | 26% | C− |
| 1,401 | Del Rio TX | 34,496 | $66K | 19.0% | 4.9% | 52% | C− |
| 1,402 | Auburn NY | 25,947 | $51K | 19.5% | 4.9% | 33% | C− |
| 1,403 | Central Falls RI | 23,124 | $49K | 24.6% | 7.9% | 7% | C− |
| 1,404 | Harvey LA | 20,915 | $49K | 25.7% | 7.0% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 New York.
Auburn and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Aurelius (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Auburn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | – | C− | A | 20 min | $51,052 |
| Melrose Park | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Owasco | 2% | A | D | 23 min | $102,245 |
| Sennett | 2% | B+ | B | 21 min | $101,585 |
| Throop | under 2% | B+ | D | 26 min | $90,268 |
| Aurelius | 3% | B− | B− | 19 min | $94,079 |
| Fleming | under 2% | B+ | C | 18 min | $92,216 |
Same-state neighbors only. Melrose Park: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$51,052 (±$5,306) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
19.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Syracuse (6%, 23 mi), Skaneateles (4%, 8 mi), New York City (3%, 207 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 69% 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.