Auburn, Alabama

Area Profile

80,594 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Auburn, in Lee County.

72out of 100
Area Score
Top 14% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 17% of 3,904 published cities73
GrowthTop 7% of 2,973 published cities77
Housing affordability2966th of 4,223 published cities67
ClimateTop 10% of 4,223 published cities84
Physical resilienceTop 36% of 4,182 published cities70
Access3763rd of 4,226 published cities69
Economic stability3931st of 4,226 published cities30
The quick read

Auburn ranks in the top 17% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.7% and median household income of $63,668.

1,040 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 8% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 21% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 5.7 times that income.

At a glance

Population
80,594
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,668
Bottom 45% nationally
Density
1,280/sq mi
62.9 sq mi of land
Median age
25.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lee County
Alabama
Metro area
Auburn-Opelika, AL
Nearest major airport
MGM
57 mi · Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)
Median home value
$364,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7% is lower than 74% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 39,564 employed residents.

64% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,618$63,668Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,726$37,018Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate25.4%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.3 minBottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher64.1%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment39,564Bottom 44%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.9%Top 10%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 30%June 2026
Labor force41,105Bottom 44%June 2026
Labor force participation59.6%Bottom 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$52,160Bottom 2%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$39,070Bottom 1%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.0%Top 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.7%Bottom 26%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/063.71.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202464k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,668 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Auburn-Opelika, AL
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,370$24,600
Retail Salespersons2,300$29,140
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,000$34,530
Cashiers1,820$27,940
Stockers and Order Fillers1,660$34,900
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1,570$40,460

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are 17.0 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Auburn High SchoolAuburn City2,22717.5
Auburn Junior High SchoolAuburn City1,49117.8
East Samford SchoolAuburn City73317.5
Drake Middle SchoolAuburn City72018.5
Ogletree Elementary SchoolAuburn City52318.7
Auburn Early Education CenterAuburn City49217.6
Pick Elementary SchoolAuburn City46416.6
Creekside Elementary SchoolAuburn City45815.3
Cary Woods Elementary SchoolAuburn City43914.6
Richland Elementary SchoolAuburn City42616.4
Margaret Yarbrough Elementary SchoolAuburn City39615.8
Wrights Mill Road Elementary SchoolAuburn City38814.9

33.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Alabama’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,098 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.7 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
20.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,098
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$364,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.73Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate53.1%Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±68436,033Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$35$1,098Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,043$364,800Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.7%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.3%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
77/ 100
Top 7% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 9% since 2020, reaching 83,757 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 12.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,040
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
12.9
Top 8% nationally
Year over year
+8%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
26.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202484k77k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420252k549
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−55%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AUBURN NO.2, 1.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation56.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing34°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

70 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and lightning.

LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, tornado, strong wind, wildfire, hail, ice storm, landslide, winter weather, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lee County records 6.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 6.0 per 100,000 residents in Lee County.

Homicide
6.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
6.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
15.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Lee County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Auburn rather than Auburn itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 57 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM57 mi9,020 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN89 mi8,500 ft
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL94 mi12,390 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
72
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Other cities in Auburn-Opelika, AL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
OpelikaLee County32,82074vs Auburn

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Auburn side by side with a similar place.

Auburn vs GainesvilleAuburn vs WinderAuburn vs SpringfieldAuburn vs Carrollton

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Auburn

4 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
3683049,292$70,18873
3683230,959$42,71766
368495,241
368792,826$93,02977