Work & commute · Auburn

Work & commute in Auburn, WA

Most working residents leave Auburn for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Seattle (16%), Kent (10%) and Renton (6%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

4,768 of 37,243 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 32,475 Auburn residents head out of town to work, 4,768 work right here, and 38,271 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Auburn.

32,475live here, work elsewhere

4,768live and work here

38,271work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Auburn goes to work

Seattle22.7 mi away

16%6,091

Auburn (in town)right here

13%4,768

Kent5.9 mi away

10%3,817

Renton12.1 mi away

6%2,170

Tacoma12.2 mi away

5%2,011

Bellevue20.4 mi away

4%1,456

SeaTac10.5 mi away

4%1,409

Tukwila12.2 mi away

4%1,388

Federal Way6 mi away

4%1,316

Sumner5.2 mi away

2%702

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%12,115

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Auburn commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

40%

43%

11%

40%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Auburn is balanced between jobs and homes

1.16jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Auburn are

43,039 jobs are based in Auburn. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Auburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Auburn

43,039 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Auburn residents hold

37,243 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+10%

Jobs based in Auburn, 2013 → 2023: 39,193 → 43,039. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.