Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Households in Ashland earn more than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston. Below the poverty line: 3.5% of residents, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. For jobs and income Ashland is better than 87% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ashland: the figures worth knowing
Ashland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Ashland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ashland is Boston, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (1,276) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Ashland
Household income holds Ashland’s grade up ($127,539, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashland could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily trip from Ashland: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,910 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Ashland’s commute, mile by mile
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who commutes out of Ashland, and who commutes in
On a workday 8,425 residents head out to work, 656 work right here, and 3,621 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.47 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Boston
Where Ashland clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
65% of the jobs in Ashland pay over $3,333 a month
4,277 jobs are based in Ashland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 4,247 → 4,277. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ashland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ashland is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,237 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 7% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Ashland households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ashland places 453rd of 2,023 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 451 | Caledonia WI | 25,229 | $93K | 4.5% | 3.2% | 5% | A |
| 452 | Mahomet Township IL | 14,687 | $116K | 3.3% | 3.3% | 12% | A |
| 453 | Ashland MA | 19,177 | $128K | 3.5% | 5.4% | 7% | A |
| 454 | Cheval FL | 13,969 | $102K | 4.6% | 3.5% | 4% | A |
| 455 | Windham NH | 16,259 | $190K | 2.0% | 5.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ashland, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Ashland
The biggest share goes to Framingham (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | – | A | A− | 37 min | $127,539 |
| Cordaville | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Southborough | under 3% | A | A | 32 min | $196,808 |
| Hopkinton | under 3% | A+ | B+ | 36 min | $222,801 |
| Framingham | 9% | B+ | A | 30 min | $107,419 |
| Sherborn | under 3% | A | B+ | 35 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Cordaville: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ashland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ashland: questions
What is the median household income in Ashland?
$127,539 (±$10,749) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
3.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (14%, 24 mi), Framingham (9%, 4 mi), Natick (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashland without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ashland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashland
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.