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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-AUBURN-WA · Auburn, WA 85,455 pop · income 75th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Auburn
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Auburn on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Yakima · lowest
59,228
Yakima · lowest
59,228 median HH income
30.0% of the leader · rank #1
Orwin · near
95,357
Orwin · near
95,357 median HH income
48.3% of the leader · rank #2
Auburn · this city
95,367
Auburn · this city
95,367 median HH income
48.3% of the leader · rank #3
Bainbridge · near
95,368
Bainbridge · near
95,368 median HH income
48.3% of the leader · rank #4
Sullivan · near
95,369
Sullivan · near
95,369 median HH income
48.3% of the leader · rank #5
New Deal · near
95,375
New Deal · near
95,375 median HH income
48.3% of the leader · rank #6
San Ramon · highest
197,358
San Ramon · highest
197,358 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Auburn on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 85,455.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Auburn - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Auburn lands in the 75th percentile for household income and the 5th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
75th
percentile, household income
85th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
5th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Auburn, WA
85,455 people live in Auburn, Washington - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Auburn report a median income of $95,367 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.7%. Typical homes in Auburn are valued around $510,400, and the median resident age is 35.7 years. Educational attainment runs 27.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 66.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Auburn's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 4511.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Washington scores 107.0 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,472 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Washington's average monthly utility costs around $188 (state average). Workers in Auburn report an average commute of 27.5 minutes, with 71.2% driving alone and 12.8% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Auburn's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to schools and households to housing and income to population change to reported crime to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Auburn, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Auburn?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 27.5 minutes.
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 27.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
How far does income reach against housing in Auburn?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Auburn?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Kennewick (84,389 residents, $72,867 income); Kirkland (91,614 residents, $143,533 income); Bellingham (92,367 residents, $65,821 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Franklin, TN (85,575 residents); Sioux City, IA (85,651 residents); Melbourne, FL (85,718 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Auburn growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -1,986 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-2.2%
2025 estimate
86,301
2020 estimate
88,287
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Auburn?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4511.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 98% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
3968.0
Violent rate
543.2
Total reported rate
4511.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 5.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
D
City profile score · Auburn, WA
45/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income B+
$95,367
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
27.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
107.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime F
543 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Auburn profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 75/100 (B+) · $95,367
Poverty rate: 61/100 (C+) · 5.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 27.0%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Violent crime: 13/100 (F) · 543 /100k
Where Auburn sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Auburn's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Auburn highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Auburn, WA (this city): home $510,400, crime 4,511/100k
Franklin, TN : home $646,300, crime 1,075/100k
Sioux City, IA : home $162,600, crime 3,879/100k
San Ramon, CA : home $1,359,100, crime 1,200/100k
Medford, OR : home $387,000, crime 4,324/100k
Lake Forest, CA : home $876,300, crime 975/100k
Kennewick, WA : home $343,600, crime 3,828/100k
Kirkland, WA : home $1,022,500, crime 2,073/100k
Bellingham, WA : home $577,400, crime 4,107/100k
Pasco, WA : home $344,700, crime 2,543/100k
Redmond, WA : home $1,091,700, crime 2,870/100k
Yakima, WA : home $273,400, crime 2,589/100k
How does Auburn compare to other US cities?
Here's how Auburn stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income75% higher than other cities
Home value85% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety5% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Washington and the picture shifts: Auburn ranks #143 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Auburn against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Auburn near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Auburn ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Auburn only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#217 of 565
62nd percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#186 of 565
67th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#294 of 598
51st percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#274 of 599
54th percentile in Washington
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
75th percentile nationally for median household income · 5th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Auburn's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Auburn's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Auburn's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$510,40015th percentilemore affordable than 15% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Auburn's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,386 of 15,516
More affordable than 14% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#498 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 5.4×, Auburn sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,386 of 15,516 and #498 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$95,367Auburn, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Auburn, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Auburn, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)27.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
85,455
Median Income
$95,367
Median Home Value
$510,400
Median Age
35.7
Poverty Rate
5.7%
Labor force participation
66.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
27.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4511.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
543.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3968.0
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Auburn's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
88,287 residents
2021
87,090 residents
2022
86,158 residents
2023
85,627 residents
2024
86,026 residents
2025
86,301 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
23
23
0
$8.4M
2020
83
83
0
$30.2M
2021
79
79
0
$31.9M
2022
39
39
0
$18.5M
2023
8
8
0
$3.5M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
27.5 minutes
Drive Alone
71.2%
Carpool
9.9%
Public Transit
3.3%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
12.8%
Other
1.0%
Based on 43,179 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Auburn. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Auburn is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Auburn sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Auburn compares to similar-size Washington cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.