If you are considering a move to south-central Worcester County, the towns of Auburn and Millbury come up together more often than not, and for good reason. Both sit along the Blackstone River watershed just south of Worcester, and both offer a quieter, more affordable alternative to city living without giving up easy access to it. This guide breaks down what you can actually expect if you are relocating to Auburn, MA, Millbury, MA, or weighing the two against each other.
Getting to Know Auburn, MA
Auburn sits at the junction of Route 20, Route 12, and I-290, which makes it one of the more conveniently located towns in Worcester County for anyone commuting to Worcester, Boston, or Springfield. The town has a population of roughly 16,000 and a solid commercial corridor along Route 20, with grocery stores, restaurants, and retail within easy reach of most neighborhoods.
Auburn Public Schools serve the town well, with a single high school that performs at or above state averages, and the town also holds a genuine piece of history: Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket from what is now Pakachoag Golf Course in 1926, a site NASA has compared in significance to the Wright brothers’ first flight.
Getting to Know Millbury, MA
Millbury sits just south of Auburn and southeast of Worcester, along the Blackstone River. With a population of around 13,000, it has a distinctly mill-town history: the Blackstone Canal once ran through town, and the surrounding Blackstone Valley was one of the birthplaces of the American Industrial Revolution. That history is still visible in the town’s older brick mill buildings, many of which have been converted into housing, offices, or retail space.
Millbury Public Schools serve the town’s elementary and middle grades and feed into Millbury Memorial Junior/Senior High School. The town center retains a classic New England feel, and the Blackstone River Greenway gives residents direct access to a growing regional network of walking and biking trails that runs the length of the valley.
Living in Auburn and Millbury: What to Expect Day to Day
Both towns share several common threads. Housing costs in Auburn and Millbury are below those in Worcester County towns closer to Boston, and single-family homes remain the dominant housing type in each, though both have older multi-family and mill-conversion units available at lower price points. Both towns are low-crime relative to state averages, and both benefit from being a short drive from UMass Memorial Medical Center and Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester.
- Auburn strengths: highway access at the junction of Route 20, Route 12, and I-290, solid commercial corridor, strong single high school
- Millbury strengths: Blackstone River Greenway access, converted mill housing stock, small-town New England center
- Shared benefits: low crime, proximity to Worcester’s hospitals and job market, easy access to the Mass Pike
The Blackstone Valley Identity
Auburn and Millbury both fall within the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, a designation covering the string of former mill towns running from Worcester down into Rhode Island. For newcomers, that shows up mostly in the region’s outdoor recreation and preserved industrial history: canal-side trails, restored mill architecture, and a handful of small museums dedicated to the valley’s manufacturing past. It gives both towns a slightly different character than the more purely residential suburbs elsewhere in Worcester County.
Moving to Auburn or Millbury: Practical Tips
Timing matters more here than in milder climates. Winters in central Massachusetts can be demanding, so late spring through early fall is usually the most practical window for a move, especially if you are relocating into one of the older mill-conversion buildings in Millbury, which can have narrower entryways and less parking than newer construction.
Before settling on a neighborhood in either town, drive through at different times of day. Both Auburn’s Route 20 corridor and Millbury’s town center see noticeably different traffic depending on the hour, and that difference matters more once it is part of your daily routine rather than a one-time visit.
If you are coming from out of state or just want local expertise navigating the two towns’ older neighborhoods and mill-conversion buildings, working with experienced Auburn movers who already know the Blackstone Valley can make the process considerably smoother.
Auburn and Millbury each offer a solid quality of life within easy reach of Worcester, and together they give newcomers a genuine choice between highway-corridor convenience and a quieter, river-valley setting. Spend time in both, compare your own priorities against what each town offers, and you should have a clear sense of which one fits before you commit.