Photo: Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Blue Ash (1.2%) is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A+: better than 98% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #26 of 992 in Ohio.
Walkability B: more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns · #273 of 993 in Ohio.
Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 20 minutes each way (Ohio 23, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Blue Ash; the top destination outside it is Cincinnati (25%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Blue Ash
Blue Ash fills up on a workday
Blue Ash has 41,497 jobs, 6.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 49,000 people are in town, 4 times the 14,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Blue Ash draws workers from far and wide
The 41,497 jobs in Blue Ash are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 27%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Blue Ash and Cincinnati trade workers both ways
Cincinnati is the top workplace for Blue Ash residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Blue Ash come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Blue Ash works from home
23% of Blue Ash workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Time on the road ↓
Most Blue Ash residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. 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.
What’s behind Blue Ash’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Blue Ash is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #26 of 992 in Ohio. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Blue Ash’s grade. 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, Blue Ash could be anywhere from A to A+.
Blue Ash’s population more than triples on a workday
On a workday 5,821 residents head out to work, 723 work right here, and 40,774 people come in from elsewhere.
About 49,000 people are in Blue Ash on a workday afternoon, 255% more than live here.
6.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Blue Ash’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Blue Ash clocks in
25% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Ohio
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Ash workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,228 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Blue Ash commutes less than 8 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
69% of the jobs in Blue Ash pay over $3,333 a month
41,497 jobs are based in Blue Ash. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blue Ash’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Ash, 2013 → 2023: 33,121 → 41,497. 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.
Most trips from Blue Ash start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blue Ash is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #273 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,802 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 87% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 5.2% of Blue Ash households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Blue Ash’s commuters take a bus or train.
Blue Ash is 54th of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Blue Ash, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Hillsdale NJ | 10,214 | $187K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| 53 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| 54 | Blue Ash OH | 13,707 | $115K | 4.0% | 1.2% | 11% | A+ |
| 55 | Tega Cay SC | 14,457 | $142K | 1.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 56 | South Fayette Township PA | 18,648 | $124K | 3.6% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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.
10% of Blue Ash works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Montgomery (3%). Darker towns draw more of Blue Ash’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Blue Ash workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Ash | – | A+ | B | 20 min | $115,313 |
| Montgomery | 3% | A+ | B | 21 min | $150,995 |
| Sycamore Township | under 2% | B | B | 21 min | $83,222 |
| Sharonville | 3% | A− | B+ | 17 min | $74,649 |
| Reading | under 2% | B− | A− | 18 min | $61,866 |
| Kenwood | 2% | B+ | B | 23 min | $110,212 |
| Brecon | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Evendale | 2% | A+ | B− | 20 min | $148,500 |
| Rossmoyne | under 2% | B+ | A | 18 min | $44,422 |
Same-state neighbors only. Brecon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Blue Ash: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Ash?
$115,313 (±$10,716) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Ash?
4.0%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Ash?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Ash work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (25%, 10 mi), West Chester Township (4%, 7 mi), Mason (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blue Ash walkable?
Blue Ash is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blue Ash without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blue Ash, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Ash
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.