Auburn, Alabama

Auburn is a city in Lee County in east-central Alabama and the largest city of the Auburn-Opelika metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 76,143 residents, a 42.6 percent rise from 53,380 in 2010, which made it one of the fastest-growing cities in the state [1]. Its nickname, “The Loveliest Village on the Plains,” comes from Oliver Goldsmith’s poem The Deserted Village [1]. The city is best known as the home of Auburn University, whose students, employees and football crowds shape almost every part of local life.

History

Settlers from Harris County, Georgia, led by Judge John J. Harper, arrived in the winter of 1836 on land that had been Creek territory [1]. The Creek had ceded this country in 1832 under the Treaty of Cusseta, the same cession that opened the neighboring site of Opelika to settlement [2]. Auburn was incorporated on February 2, 1839, when it still lay within Macon County [1].

During the Civil War the town hosted a hospital for Texan Confederate soldiers, and Union raids reached it in 1864 and 1865 [1]. A long economic depression followed the war, and several fires gutted the downtown district in the 1860s and 1870s [1]. In 1866 the legislature created Lee County from parts of Macon, Russell, Chambers and Tallapoosa counties; Opelika, not Auburn, became the county seat [2].

Auburn University

The college is the reason the town exists in its present form. It was chartered in 1856 as East Alabama Male College and opened in 1859 [1]. In 1872 it became the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, a land-grant institution, and in 1960 it took the name Auburn University [1]. In 1892 it became the first four-year college in Alabama to admit women [1].

Enrollment reached 31,526 in the 2021–2022 year, and the university employed 13,545 people in 2024, making it by far the city’s largest employer [1]. The campus includes the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, which holds mainly nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and European works; the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center, with a 1,200-seat hall and a 4,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater; and the Telfair Peet Theatre [1]. The Donald E. Davis Arboretum shows about 150 tree species native to Alabama and the Southeast [1][2]. The university also runs the 156-acre Auburn Research Park, which opened in September 2008 [1].

Economy

Higher education and related services anchor the local economy, but manufacturing still provides roughly 5,000 jobs [1]. Local industry includes small engines, automotive wheels, fuel cells, plastic injection technology and vehicle armor [1]. Auburn sits between the Kia plant in West Point, Georgia, about 35 miles east, and the Hyundai plant in Montgomery, about 55 miles west, which gives suppliers easy access to both [1]. The Auburn-Opelika area reported a 3.1 percent unemployment rate in February 2025 [1]. For Lee County as a whole, education, health care and social services employ 31.3 percent of workers and manufacturing 12.9 percent [2].

Education beyond the university

Auburn City Schools operates 14 campuses with more than 9,400 students [1]. Auburn High School moved into a new facility in 2017 and, in the 2021–22 school year, had the largest student population of any high school in Alabama [1]. Lee County’s three school systems, the county district, Auburn City and Opelika City, together run dozens of schools, and Southern Union State Community College serves the county from Opelika and Valley [2].

Sports and game days

Jordan–Hare Stadium seats 87,451, Neville Arena 9,121 and Plainsman Park 6,300 [1]. Home football weekends draw more than 100,000 visitors and add nearly $100 million a year to the local economy [1]. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports, and its swimming program won seven of nine recent NCAA championships [1]. The city’s population roughly doubles on a big Saturday, so traffic and hotel capacity are a regular civic concern.

Parks and recreation

Auburn maintains 16 parks, plus trails and several lakes [1]. Chewacla State Park, about 700 acres, has a 26-acre lake, trails and cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps [1][2]. Kiesel Park covers about 200 acres [1]. Other county attractions include Pebble Hill, a historic home owned by the university, and the Salem-Shotwell Covered Bridge [2].

Climate and geography

Auburn has a humid subtropical climate with mild winters and long, hot summers [1]. Average rainfall is about 52.6 inches a year and snowfall only 0.7 inches; the city averages 57 days a year with highs of 90°F or more [1]. The northern half of Lee County lies in the Piedmont and the southern half in the Coastal Plain, so Auburn sits near the boundary between the two regions [2].

Government and transportation

Auburn uses a council-manager system with an eight-member city council elected from eight wards. Ron Anders was elected mayor in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, a largely ceremonial role, while a city manager runs daily operations [1]. Interstate 85, US 29 and US 280 serve the city, and Auburn University Regional Airport lies two miles east of downtown; Atlanta and Birmingham airports are each about two hours away [1]. The city has no citywide bus system and few sidewalks, so most residents drive [1].

Notable people

Nobel laureates Frederick C. Robbins and George F. Smoot, architects Paul Rudolph and Samuel Mockbee, and Robert Gibbs, the first press secretary to President Barack Obama, have Auburn connections [1]. Auburn’s sister cities are Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria (since 1998) and Auburn, New York (since 2014) [1].

FAQs

What county is Auburn in? Auburn is in Lee County; the county seat is neighboring Opelika [2].

How big is Auburn? The 2020 census counted 76,143 residents, up 42.6 percent from 2010 [1].

When was Auburn University founded? It was chartered in 1856 as East Alabama Male College and opened in 1859; it has been Auburn University since 1960 [1].

What is the largest high school in Alabama? Auburn High School had the largest student population of any Alabama high school in 2021–22 [1].

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Auburn, Alabama
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Lee County
3. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Auburn

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue