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Auburn, New York

Auburn is a small city of about 26,000 people in Cayuga County, New York. It's the county seat. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Rochester, is about 55 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
25,947
down 3.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$152,800
Cayuga County prices up 23% since 2022
Household income
$51,052
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural New York
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Auburn Community Hospital
To Rochester
55 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of New York outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood71 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 12.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town7 public schools: 5 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byAuburn Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRochester is about 55 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Auburn meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$152,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Cayuga County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$897 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$51,052U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
49%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,998 a yearNew York: $6,582
Homes built before 1940
44%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of New York outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of New York outside metro areas, not Auburn alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
25,9472020: 26,867
Median age
41.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (30%); retail (15%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
19%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Auburn Community Hospital, Auburn, NY, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

7 public schools in Auburn, run by Auburn City School District.

Colleges in or next to town: Cayuga County Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New York's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
15°F
July average high
81°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
142 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.3 inches a year
Snow
109 inches a year
Elevation
668 feet

Weather station: Auburn (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Syracuse, Rochester.

Cayuga County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

21 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, Harriet Tubman Residence Tubman Home for the Aged Thompson A.M.E. Zion Church (Boundary Increase), the Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall and the William H. Seward House. Three are National Historic Landmarks, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Harriet Tubman National Historical Park1 mile
  • Women's Rights National Historical Park14 miles
  • Fort Stanwix National Monument59 miles

Read about Auburn's history on Wikipedia.

Know Auburn?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Melrose Park, NY (unincorporated)1,960 people, 3 miles
  • Cayuga, NY551 people, 8 miles
  • Elbridge, NY950 people, 10 miles
  • Savannah, NY (unincorporated)473 people, 13 miles
  • Aurora, NY329 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.