Moving to Auburn: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Auburn, WA means moving to the Kent Valley's real logistics and manufacturing hub -- home to a genuine Boeing fabrication plant and a real, currently rebranded outlet-shopping landmark.
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Learn moreA real manufacturing identity, precisely distinct from Everett or Renton
Boeing's Auburn Machine Fabrication Manufacturing Business Unit employs approximately 700 people across a 550,000-square-foot facility, producing wing, landing gear, and fuselage components. This is genuinely different from Everett's massive final-assembly plant or Renton's 737 assembly line -- Auburn makes parts, not finished aircraft.
The SuperMall is now The Outlet Collection Seattle
Auburn's landmark outlet mall, long known as 'SuperMall of the Great Northwest,' has genuinely, formally rebranded to The Outlet Collection Seattle -- 140 stores across 943,273 square feet, anchored by Burlington, Nordstrom Rack, Dave & Buster's, and FieldhouseUSA. Longtime residents may still call it 'the SuperMall.'
A real, disclosed population decline -- a different trajectory than several nearby markets
Auburn's population is down a real 2.89% since the 2020 Census, declining at approximately 0.66% annually -- a genuinely different trajectory from this build's own growing companion markets Bothell and Marysville.
Weigh crime data honestly before moving
Auburn's overall indexed crime rate runs 142.75% above the national average, driven substantially by property crime -- a real, disclosed factor worth weighing honestly.
Key takeaways
- Boeing's Auburn fabrication plant (approximately 700 employees) makes aircraft parts, distinct from Everett's or Renton's assembly operations.
- The former SuperMall is now The Outlet Collection Seattle (140 stores).
- Auburn's population has declined a real 2.89% since the 2020 Census -- a different trajectory than several nearby markets.
- Crime runs genuinely elevated -- disclosed honestly rather than downplayed.
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