Households in Ashland have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Ashland is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (C−). Below the poverty line: 23.6% of residents, where Maine as a whole has 10.7%. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, where Maine as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Ashland’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Ashland is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ashland’s grade.
Unemployment (1.6%) is left out: Ashland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ashland could be anywhere from D− to D.
Ashland quiets down on a workday
On a workday 385 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 191 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
20% of working residents work in Presque Isle
Where Ashland clocks in
20% 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.
Ashland works in goods: 31% of its jobs
280 jobs are based in Ashland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 243 → 280. 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.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Ashland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 425 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Maine: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Ashland to work
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Driving is how Ashland gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 446 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.6% of Ashland households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Ashland sits among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 689 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,052 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,115 | South Thomaston ME | 1,520 | $87K | 4.2% | 0.0% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,202 | Wister OK | 1,068 | $37K | 25.3% | 4.5% | 3% | D− |
| 4,203 | Ansted WV | 1,273 | $38K | 27.2% | 2.5% | 6% | D− |
| 4,204 | Ashland ME | 1,186 | $47K | 23.6% | 1.6% | 19% | D− |
| 4,205 | East Millinocket ME | 1,567 | $42K | 21.7% | 6.3% | 13% | D− |
| 4,206 | Big River CA | 1,140 | $40K | 20.0% | 11.3% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Maine.
11% of Ashland works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Masardis (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | – | D− | C− | 21 min | $46,838 |
| Castle Hill | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Garfield plantation | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Nashville plantation | 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Masardis | 8% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Castle Hill, Garfield plantation, Nashville plantation and Masardis: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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?
$46,838 (±$14,873) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
23.6%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Presque Isle (20%, 19 mi), Masardis (8%, 9 mi), Portage Lake (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.