Photo: E. Bailey · Public domainAshland has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Ashland report 78 jobs, and 522 of its residents work somewhere. Ashland grades C− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, against 15% across New York.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ashland, in a few figures
Ashland is a place people come home to
There are 78 jobs based in Ashland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ashland has about 990 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
31% of Ashland works in Elmira
164 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Elmira, 5.9 miles away. That’s far more as work in Ashland itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Ashland are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
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 522 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Ashland earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ashland is better than 16% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ashland’s grade.
Unemployment (5.8%) 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 C.
How a workday changes Ashland
On a workday 521 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 77 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer 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.
31% of working residents work in Elmira
Where Ashland clocks in
31% of workers
11% 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.
Getting to work from Ashland takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 580 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What Ashland’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 72 → 78. 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.
Miles to work from Ashland
About 18% 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
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashland is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ashland near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 612 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 8.2% of Ashland households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ashland places 4,377th of 5,877 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,375 | Questa NM | 1,809 | $47K | 17.5% | 3.0% | 17% | C− |
| 4,376 | Greenbush ME | 1,531 | $60K | 10.2% | 9.6% | 4% | C− |
| 4,377 | Ashland NY | 1,437 | $56K | 16.4% | 5.8% | <1% | C− |
| 4,378 | Berino NM | 1,454 | $40K | 17.1% | 7.8% | 0% | C− |
| 4,379 | Stromsburg NE | 1,159 | $59K | 12.2% | 0.2% | 11% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 New York.
Around Ashland: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Southport. 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?
$56,154 (±$6,685) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
16.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elmira (31%, 6 mi), Horseheads (11%, 10 mi), Big Flats (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 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 8% 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.