Auburn is a city in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Auburn had a population of 4,574. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area.
History
Auburn was originally platted in 1836, a mile north of its present location. It was one of several towns named Auburn that were platted in Illinois during the town lot boom of the 1830s. Their sister Hannah named it for Auburn, Maine, near their family home. The miners were mostly new arrivals, but the descendants of old settlers owned many of the local businesses.
In 1896, the Auburn post office was the site of the first Rural Free Delivery service in Illinois, part of a nationwide test. Three rural letter carriers rode 35-mile routes. The experiment was well-received: some local farmers changed their post office to Auburn to take advantage of the new system. The brick paving was not completed until 1931, when US 66 had already been realigned to the east.
Geography
According to the 2010 census, Auburn has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Auburn had a population of 4,574. The median age was 38.4 years. 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.9 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,786 households in Auburn, of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.9% were married-couple households, 15.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Of the 1,618 households 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 22.9% of households were one person and 9.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.09.
The age distribution was 30.4% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.4 males.
The median household income was $43,250 and the median family income was $49,200. Males had a median income of $34,339 versus $24,167 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,368. About 4.8% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Dutch Leonard, MLB pitcher for 20 years, was born in Auburn.
- Roswell Magill (1895–1963), a leading tax expert of the 1930s, born in Auburn.