Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 37/100
F
Median home value$547,900
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$1,786/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households38%
Seattle 35%
Auburn
King & Pierce counties85,676 residentsAuburn School District
53
C−
Suburbgrade score
43rd of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by housing & affordability.
53
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Auburn yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 53 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Auburn is like to live in, by category
Bars show Auburn against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 45/100
D
Within-state proficiency40th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio17.6
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate82%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 71/100
B−
Housing cost index88
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.94%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.50%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 47/100
D
Mean commute30.5 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes53%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi9.8
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 86/100
A−
Restaurants & cafés127
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries8
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks93
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 46/100
D
Median household income$97,884
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment6.0%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations33%
Seattle 52%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
—
No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Auburn yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
—
Do you feel safe walking after dark?
—
Can you walk to a grocery store?
—
Is it good for young children?
—
Are yards and streets well kept?
—
Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Auburn on housing & affordability
Auburn's weakest grade is F. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbHousingOverall
Sammamish22 mi from AuburnB+ 70 B− Mercer Island18 mi from AuburnB 75 B Snoqualmie23 mi from AuburnB 69 B− Bellevue20 mi from AuburnC+ 74 B Artondale21 mi from AuburnC+ 54 C− Issaquah18 mi from AuburnC 73 B Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Auburn
Is Auburn, WA a good place to live?
Auburn scores 53 out of 100, 43rd of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Auburn expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $547,900, 24% below the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.94%. $1,786/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Auburn?
Schools grade D. The districts serving Auburn sit at the 40th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 82% graduation rate and a 17.6 student–teacher ratio. Auburn is served by Auburn School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Auburn?
The mean commute is 30.5 min, with 53% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 14% working from home. Transit density is 9.8 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Auburn?
Within two miles there are 8 groceries, 127 restaurants and cafés and 93 parks, which grades A− on amenities.
Are the homes in Auburn old or new?
The median home in Auburn was built in 1991 — newer than the Seattle median of 1985. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 57% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.