Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Ashland has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 470 people commute in to work
Ashland has 485 jobs; 237 of its residents have a job. Only 6% work in Ashland itself; outside it, Memphis draws the most (12%, 49 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 30 minutes, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Ashland
Ashland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ashland is Memphis, TN, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (29) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Ashland workers cross into Tennessee
23% of Ashland workers work outside Mississippi, most of them in Tennessee, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ashland
54% of Ashland residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Ashland pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% 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; with 237 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Miles to work 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.
The towns that send workers to Ashland
Where Ashland clocks in
12% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 385 → 485. 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.
Who leaves Ashland for work, and who comes in
On a workday 222 residents head out to work and 15 work right here.
About 780 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 47% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 30 minutes to work from Ashland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 216 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi: 87% 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.
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?
$38,482 (±$10,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
27.5%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Memphis (12%, 49 mi), Olive Branch (9%, 38 mi), Collierville (5%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ashland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% 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.