Auburn, New York

Area Profile

26,285 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Auburn, in Cayuga County.

48out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 14% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,327th of 4,199 cities measured42
Schools3,002nd of 4,162 cities measured32
Growth4,217th of 4,224 cities measured6
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 4,218 cities measured68
Climate3,662nd of 4,225 cities measured60
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 4,226 cities measured66
Access2,782nd of 4,226 cities measured88
Economic stability3,863rd of 4,226 cities measured29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Auburn in the bottom 21%.

In the public schools here, 57% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.1 students for every teacher.

No residential units were authorized over the past twelve months, against a nonzero total the year before.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
26,285
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,052
Bottom 24% nationally
Density
3,154/sq mi
8.3 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New York
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SYR
26 mi · Syracuse Hancock Intl
Median home value
$152,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 11,053 employed residents.

Median household income of $51,052 is lower than in 76% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsCayuga County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,41617th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftCayuga County, NY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$56,33817th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,3062024 ACS 5-Year$51,052Bottom 24%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1762024 ACS 5-Year$30,134Bottom 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year18.8%Bottom 25%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.4 minTop 19%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year21.0%Top 49%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.2%43rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,053Bottom 4%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.3%Bottom 34%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 27%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202611,6114th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.9%Bottom 29%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%81st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.13.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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

202120222023202451k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,052 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.

57% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.1 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.1
across 7 of them
Math proficiency
56.9%
Bottom 22% in New York
Reading proficiency
48.5%
Bottom 11% in New York
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Auburn High SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,17613.893%92%
Auburn Junior High SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT56010.036%25%
William H Seward Elementary SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT49110.450%33%
Herman Avenue Elementary SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT39910.249%33%
Casey Park Elementary SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT38110.026%18%
Genesee Street Elementary SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT36910.342%26%
Owasco Elementary SchoolAUBURN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT3569.937%37%
Cayuga-Onondaga BocesCAYUGA-ONONDAGA BOCES2923.4——
Harriet Tubman Residential CenterNEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES (OCFS)20———

60.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New York is up 52% over five years, and up 6.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,998 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.62% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,124, some 25% above the $897 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,124 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $45,000 a year, about 88% of the median household income here of $51,052.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $897 a month.

A median home at $152,800 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $75,743, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,124
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$897
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$152,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Auburn’s median household income of $51,052, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+6.7%96th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+52.3%85th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+101.7%65th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 33%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year48.6%8th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3752024 ACS 5-Year13,33596th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$889Top 13%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,463Top 16%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,124Top 15%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$502024 ACS 5-Year$897Top 41%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,9492024 ACS 5-Year$152,80038th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2812024 ACS 5-Year$3,99883rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,2652024 ACS 5-Year$75,743Bottom 46%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.24%2024 ACS 5-Year2.62%98th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1202024 ACS 5-Year11190th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%60th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%64th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3302024 ACS 5-Year1,46097th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

6/ 100
Ranks 4,217 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 3% since 2020, to 25,963 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 0 units authorized in 2025, against a nonzero total the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 0 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 17% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Cayuga County, NY, which contains Auburn, rather than for Auburn alone.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Cayuga County, which contains Auburn, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,416, close to the $56,338 of households that moved out.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
0
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 1% nationally
Year over year
−100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
17.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202427k26k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
28%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,416
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,338
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Onondaga County, NY 567 people · 26% of arrivals
  2. Oswego County, NY 159 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  3. Tompkins County, NY 148 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. Wayne County, NY 121 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  5. Seneca County, NY 85 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Onondaga County, NY 462 people · 22% of departures
  2. Oswego County, NY 151 people · 7.2% of departures
  3. Wayne County, NY 117 people · 5.6% of departures
  4. Tompkins County, NY 116 people · 5.5% of departures
  5. Cortland County, NY 88 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Cayuga County, NY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025110.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−100%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.3 inches, including 109.4 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AUBURN, 1.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals44.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals109.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 80% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Inland floodingElevated
HurricaneModerate
Strong windModerate
HailModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, winter weather, drought, earthquake, lightning, landslide, tornado, wildfire, avalanche, cold wave, coastal flooding, volcanic activity, tsunami.

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.

Violent crime
291
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,255
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Auburn's police department reported 291 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,255.

Cayuga County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 7.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.7 per 100,000 residents in Cayuga County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Auburn’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Auburn (Cayuga County) rather than Auburn itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Syracuse Hancock Intl at 26 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year88.3%Bottom 44%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle26 miBottom 33%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%Bottom 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Syracuse Hancock IntlSYR26 mi9,013 ft
Elmira/Corning RgnlELM56 mi8,001 ft
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester IntlROC57 mi8,001 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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48
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Auburn

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Auburn with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
1302137,247$60,712$180,70051