Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Auburn has higher household incomes than 75% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 31 minutes getting to work on average; the Washington average is 27, the U.S. 26. The poverty rate is 8.9%, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. Household incomes here are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns.
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 (43,039) as working residents (37,243), but they are mostly different people: 32,475 residents leave for work each day while 38,271 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Auburn are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Auburn’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Auburn is Seattle, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (6,091) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Auburn draws workers from far and wide
The 43,039 jobs in Auburn are filled from a wide area. Auburn’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 32%; the other 57% 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.
Auburn’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Auburn is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #136 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Auburn’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Auburn could be anywhere from B to B+.
Auburn on a workday afternoon
On a workday 32,475 residents head out to work, 4,768 work right here, and 38,271 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 (1.16 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 commute from Auburn, by distance
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.
16% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Auburn clocks in
16% of workers
10% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 29% of the jobs in Auburn
43,039 jobs are based in Auburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 39,193 → 43,039. 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.
From Auburn, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Auburn workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,580 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Auburn is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 42,717 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 6.9% of Auburn households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Auburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Auburn is 269th of 540 U.S. towns of 60,000 to 117,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Sammamish WA | 66,110 | $240K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Kirkland WA | 97,410 | $150K | 6.1% | 4.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Redmond WA | 82,506 | $163K | 5.6% | 4.9% | 32% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 267 | Beaumont CA | 60,835 | $107K | 10.0% | 4.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 268 | Longmont CO | 100,109 | $91K | 8.6% | 4.8% | 26% | B+ |
| 269 | Auburn WA | 86,301 | $98K | 8.9% | 6.0% | 13% | B+ |
| 270 | Jurupa Valley CA | 107,311 | $98K | 11.0% | 5.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 271 | Bensalem Township PA | 62,783 | $85K | 11.9% | 4.8% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 540 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Washington.
Auburn and its neighbors: 16% work next door
The biggest share goes to Kent (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Auburn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | – | B+ | A | 31 min | $97,884 |
| Lake Morton-Berrydale | under 2% | A | C+ | 38 min | $129,833 |
| Kent | 10% | B | A | 30 min | $92,302 |
| Algona | under 2% | B− | A | 28 min | $85,332 |
| Lake Holm | under 2% | A+ | C | 36 min | $177,371 |
| Pacific | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 32 min | $115,625 |
| Lakeland South | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $110,735 |
| Lake Tapps | under 2% | A+ | C | 37 min | $148,005 |
| Lakeland North | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 31 min | $105,216 |
| Sumner | 2% | A− | A | 30 min | $98,191 |
| Federal Way | 4% | B | A | 32 min | $86,909 |
Same-state neighbors only. 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?
$97,884 (±$3,074) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Auburn?
8.9%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Auburn?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Auburn work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (16%, 23 mi), Kent (10%, 6 mi), Renton (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Auburn walkable?
Auburn is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Auburn without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 22% 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.