Photo: Demi~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 3.0At 6.2%, unemployment in Ashland is higher than in 76% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland. The two grades for Ashland are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About two in five work in Ashland; the top destination outside it is Medford (24%, 13 miles).
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 and Medford trade workers both ways
Medford is the top workplace for Ashland residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Ashland come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Ashland are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon 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.
Where Ashland’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ashland is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #104 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Ashland’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashland could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Out of Ashland to work: where people go
Where Ashland clocks in
24% of workers
3% 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’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,879 commuters (the 21% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who commutes out of Ashland, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,283 residents head out to work, 2,815 work right here, and 5,643 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Ashland
8,458 jobs are based in Ashland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 8,821 → 8,458. 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.
Where in the region Ashland works
About 17% 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.
In Ashland, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashland is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #4 of 142 in Oregon. 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 9,989 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 9.1% of Ashland households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ashland is 1,449th of 1,705 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 402 | West Linn OR | 26,567 | $147K | 5.5% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 672 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,447 | Elkton MD | 16,670 | $59K | 20.1% | 6.9% | 16% | C |
| 1,448 | Graham NC | 20,131 | $56K | 16.8% | 6.8% | 8% | C |
| 1,449 | Ashland OR | 20,889 | $68K | 15.2% | 6.2% | 40% | C |
| 1,450 | Beckley WV | 16,373 | $46K | 28.9% | 3.2% | 40% | C |
| 1,451 | Rock Springs WY | 22,936 | $69K | 16.1% | 5.2% | 54% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ashland, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
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?
$68,028 (±$7,379) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
15.2%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Medford (24%, 13 mi), Grants Pass (3%, 36 mi), Portland (2%, 231 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashland without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 28% 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.