Columbia draws about half of Ashland’s working residents
Jobs and income earn Ashland A; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 8% work in Ashland; the top destination outside it is Columbia (49%, 10 miles). Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Ashland in brief
Nearly half of Ashland works in Columbia
1,103 working residents, 49%, have their main job in Columbia, 10 miles away. That’s 6 times as many as work in Ashland itself. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ashland
64% of Ashland residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Ashland pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Ashland: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ashland is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #41 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and 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 B+ to A.
Where people from Ashland work
Where Ashland clocks in
49% of workers
16% of workers
1% 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.
Jobs in Ashland: what the 1,260 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 1,026 → 1,260. 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.
How a workday changes Ashland
On a workday 2,080 residents head out to work, 178 work right here, and 1,082 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.56 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Ashland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,642 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ashland
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.
Few in Ashland walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashland is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #238 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,824 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 (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
502nd of 3,524: where Ashland ranks among U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Cottleville MO | 6,717 | $131K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 500 | Merrimac MA | 6,818 | $123K | 9.4% | 1.5% | 6% | A |
| 501 | Santa Rita Ranch TX | 6,586 | $161K | 0.9% | 5.9% | 1% | A |
| 502 | Ashland MO | 5,221 | $93K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 8% | A |
| 503 | Clay Township IN | 3,835 | $101K | 4.0% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| 504 | Le Claire IA | 4,741 | $105K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,524 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Missouri.
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?
$93,143 (±$8,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
4.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
8% work in town.
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% 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.