Common Paper Wasp

This brown and yellow wasp is the Common Paper Wasp. It's the exclamans one as the Austrailians call their humilis "Common" as well.
Full grown these are between 3/4 and 1 inch long are are thin wasps (being no more than 1/4 inch wide/thick). They have red-brown spots on every joint of the abdomen and a red-brown, elongated, pentagon on their thorax pointing towards their head. That pentagon (which is the same shape as Superman's super-logo) is an easy give-away, not to mention it's brown instead of black like most yellow and [blank] wasps.
Their wings are long and brown, and their antenna are black with red tips. Their legs are multicolored as well. They have large, brown, compound eyes and triangular heads.

Being paper wasps they have the paper celled nest. The nests point downward and are made up of hexagonal cells that are sometimes covered, and sometimes not. You can usually find these under eves, by doors, pretty much any relatively protected area though you'll probably find them most frequently on buildings.
They are fairly non-aggressive wasps, so if the nest is out of the reach of children you don't have remove it. I read reports of people being inches away from the nest and the wasps still not caring. The Common Paper Wasps are great for gardens, they feed on all those nasty bugs that eat the gardens and give them to their larvae as well. So unless they are posing a danger by being too near a door or if there are overly curious children, it's best to leave them be.