Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Ashland earns an A, ranked 55th of 282 in Massachusetts. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 96% of the country, the median household earns $128K, and it reports less crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $662K for a typical one and 5.7 times the Boston metro’s $116K median household income. Ashland’s trail density is 3.3 miles per square mile, where Massachusetts’ towns sit at 1.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Ashland is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. Ashland has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hopkinton Dam and Spillway and Ashland Dam and Spillway.
Where Ashland beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,304 in 1850, a low of 1,304 in 1850, 18,832 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1855 and 8 maps from 1886 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Massachusetts), ordered by how far Ashland is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ashland. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw24 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw20 mi MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum
14 mi LakeWalden Pond
23 mi AttractionFreedom TrailGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Sean Dungan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Walden Pond: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Freedom Trail: Ingfbruno, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ashland, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Ashland.
Ashland has less tooth loss than most of Massachusetts, pairs an A− for schools with high home prices and is safe by national standards but not by Massachusetts’s.
42 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Hopkinton State Park, 454 acres with 9.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hopkinton State Park | 9.2 mi | 454 |
| 2. Ashland State Park | 6.9 mi | 256 |
| 3. Sudbury River Access | 0.8 mi | 54 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $662K.
Its public schools are run by the Ashland school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ashland High, with 884 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 685 | B+ |
| Ashland HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 884 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Massachusetts is tooth loss: 5.8% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.9% statewide.
24% of Ashland adults have obesity, below both the Massachusetts town median (28%) and the median of U.S. towns (35%). 10% of Ashland adults report frequent physical distress. Ashland beats the Massachusetts average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Ashland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Ashland | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.8% | 11.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.2% | 5.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ashland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 8.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 67% of Massachusetts’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 17 reported in 2025, 0.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ashland’s property crime rate is 2.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Ashland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The average commute for its 9,081 working residents takes 36.8 minutes, against 29.1 across Massachusetts.
Most working residents leave Ashland for work: only 7% work in town. The average trip to work in Ashland is 37 minutes. The top destinations are Boston (14%), Framingham (9%) and Natick (6%).
| Ashland | Massachusetts towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 37 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 23% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $128,000 | $120,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.5% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Ashland has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
13 within 15 miles of the center of Ashland
About 4 of every 100 Ashland residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Massachusetts.
16,593 counted in 2010 and 18,832 in 2020; an estimated 19,177 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
3 places in Ashland on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Ashland.
Town in Massachusetts, United States
Ashland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the MetroWest region. The population was 18,832 at the 2020 United States census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Ashland.
| Town | MA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | #55 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Cordaville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Southborough | #9 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Hopkinton | #12 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Framingham | #235 | C | D | C+ | D | A− |
| Sherborn | #17 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
Cordaville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ashland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Ashland grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #55 of 282 in Massachusetts. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
5 notable people were born here, including Frank Nelson Cole and Josephine Angelini.
