Auburn, AL
Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Auburn ranks 178th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 214th for income. A household earns $68,336 a year while median rent runs $1,111/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (27th of 300), while health is the soft spot (219th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 93rd and home prices 131st among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Auburn, your take-home is worth about $65,679 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 214th of 300↑27.2%$68,336
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 27th of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $77,714
- Per-capita income
- $37,038
- Full-time pay
- $41,364
Housing
- Median rent
- 93rd of 300↑45.2%$1,111/mo
- Home value
- 131st of 300↑57.7%$288,600
- Property tax
- $1,286/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 9.43%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 57th of 3003.4%
- Bachelor's+
- 48th of 30043.1%
- Avg commute
- 103rd of 30023 min
People
- Population
- 205,355
- Population change
- +24.8%
- Median age
- 35.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.2%
- Broadband
- 93.3%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 67th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 219th of 30020.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Household income
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — ft benning lawson fld.
What jobs pay in Auburn
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Pharmacists
- $133,180
- IT managers
- $129,590
- Financial managers
- $129,580
- Software developers
- $120,310
- General & operations managers
- $103,380
- Lawyers
- $100,560
- Civil engineers
- $99,590
- Registered nurses
- $78,040
- Accountants & auditors
- $72,570
- Secondary school teachers
- $61,250
- Police officers
- $60,230
- Elementary school teachers
- $59,970
- Electricians
- $53,860
- Plumbers
- $51,570
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $49,210
- Carpenters
- $47,610
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $39,710
- Construction laborers
- $36,110
- Customer service reps
- $35,810
- Janitors
- $30,470
- Retail salespersons
- $29,140
- Cashiers
- $27,940
- Waiters & waitresses
- $26,470
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Auburn metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Alabama are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Georgia2,628
- Florida894
- Texas412
- South Carolina288
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Auburn
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Auburn metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Auburn metro?
- Median gross rent across the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area is $1,111 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Auburn.
- What is the median household income in the Auburn metro?
- A typical household in the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area earns $68,336 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Auburn expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Auburn metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $77,714 (versus its face value of $68,336). CityLedger rates the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Auburn metro?
- The median home value across the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area is $288,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Auburn metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area is 3.4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).