Auburn vs Opelika

A side-by-side comparison of Auburn and Opelika: population, income, housing, and more.

Auburn and Opelika are places in Alabama. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Auburn has the higher population (78,738 vs 31,944 in Opelika). Opelika has the higher median household income ($58,763 vs $56,123 in Auburn). Auburn has the higher median home value ($342,400 vs $213,700 in Opelika).

Population, income & housing

	Auburn	Opelika
Population	78,738	31,944
Median age	25.6 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$56,123	$58,763
Median home value	$342,400	$213,700
Median gross rent	$1,034	$947
Housing units	34,548	14,389
Homeownership rate	52.0%	68.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	62.8%	33.5%
Unemployment rate	3.8%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Auburn	Opelika
Population	64,054 → 78,738 (+22.9%)	30,232 → 31,944 (+5.7%)
Median household income	$47,318 → $56,123 (+18.6%)	$48,459 → $58,763 (+21.3%)
Median home value	$266,200 → $342,400 (+28.6%)	$151,300 → $213,700 (+41.2%)
Median gross rent	$884 → $1,034 (+17.0%)	$753 → $947 (+25.8%)

Auburn

Population

64,05478,738

Median household income

$47,318$56,123

Median home value

$266,200$342,400

Median gross rent

$884$1,034

Opelika

Population

30,23231,944

Median household income

$48,459$58,763

Median home value

$151,300$213,700

Median gross rent

$753$947

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Auburn	Opelika
Under 5	4.7%	7.1%
5 to 17	15.2%	15.1%
18 to 24	29.0%	6.2%
25 to 34	13.2%	14.5%
35 to 44	10.8%	13.1%
45 to 54	11.1%	11.0%
55 to 64	7.1%	15.0%
65 to 74	5.1%	11.2%
75 and over	3.8%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Auburn	Opelika
White (non-Hispanic)	65.7%	50.3%
Black or African American	18.6%	36.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	8.4%	1.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.3%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.1%	1.7%
Hispanic or Latino	4.8%	9.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Auburn	Opelika
No high school diploma	4.0%	11.8%
High school graduate	13.1%	24.6%
Some college or associate's	20.2%	30.2%
Bachelor's degree	31.7%	20.5%
Graduate or professional degree	31.0%	13.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Auburn	Opelika
Drove alone	76.5%	82.4%
Carpooled	6.9%	7.9%
Public transit	1.1%	1.3%
Walked	5.0%	1.2%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.2%
Worked from home	9.7%	5.9%
Other means	0.8%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Auburn	Opelika
1-unit, detached	47.9%	67.7%
1-unit, attached	7.9%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	8.5%	7.6%
5 to 19 units	20.4%	5.0%
20 or more units	11.4%	4.6%
Mobile home & other	3.9%	12.5%

Poverty & households

	Auburn	Opelika
Poverty rate	26.1%	15.0%
Average household size	2.44	2.39
Mean commute (minutes)	19	21
Median year structure built	2000	1990