Ashaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI, 1904
Ashaway’s story
174 years in pictures
The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 5 maps from 1889 on.
- 1852Ashaway is settled
AshawayRI
3 bordering townsMap →
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Population
1,722
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$344K
Census ACS
Household income
$104K
median
Median age
38.9
years
Jobs based here
194
A commuter town
Is Ashaway a good place to live?
Of the 39 Rhode Island towns we compare, none has a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Ashaway. The biggest park or preserve is Crandall Field, at 23 acres. We don’t grade Ashaway yet; the figures below are still real.
What makes Ashaway stand out
Where Ashaway beats most towns.
A commuter town
99% of working residents leave Ashaway for work
Where Ashaway’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
194jobs based in Ashaway
1%of working residents work in town
17 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
Nearby attractions
All 158 attractions →The Breakers and 83 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ashaway. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi MuseumThe Breakers
26 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
38 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
25 mi MuseumMarble House
16 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
25 mi MuseumThe ElmsSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Elms: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
_underway_c1944.jpg){kind=link}
Getting set up
Moving to Ashaway: who provides what
Ashaway is unincorporated, so Washington County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerRhode Island Energy29.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterBethel Village Water AssnNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet4 providers98% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesWashington CountyWashington County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Rhode Island you can register online until 30 days before Election Day, in person until 30 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 30 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereHopkinton Board of CanvassersTown of Hopkinton; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2025
ZIP code0280402804 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Ashaway.
Work & commute
Fewer of Ashaway’s working residents work locally than in the typical Rhode Island or U.S. town
The top destinations are Westerly (16%), Groton (8%) and Providence (6%). For half of commuters, work is under 17 miles away.
1%work in town
| Ashaway | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
In Ashaway1%
Westerly16%
Groton8%
Providence6%
North Kingstown6%
17 mi
median commute distance
194
jobs based in Ashaway
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Ashaway has four seasons and pleasant summers
In July, afternoons reach 82°; in January, nights fall to 21°, and about 35 inches of snow falls in a winter.
35″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter23–41°
Spring38–58°
Summer60–80°
Fall44–63°
Oct 8
typical first frost
May 3
typical last frost
+2.3°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Who lives here
A younger population than Rhode Island as a whole
People 65 and older are 12% of residents (19% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (39% statewide). Rhode Island has 38% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 32%.
38.9median age · RI 40.6
| Ashaway | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 12% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 43.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 38% | 29% |
AshawayRhode IslandUnited States
Ages · share of residents
17%
Education · adults 25 and older
No diploma1%
High school33%
Some college25%
Associate’s9%
Bachelor’s24%
Graduate8%
Women and men · all residents
57% women, 43% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±7.9 points. Across Rhode Island, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Ashaway | RI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.1% | 10% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.2% | 8.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.4% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.9% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.7% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.3% | 13.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.7% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0.7% | 10.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.4% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 25% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.1% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.6% | 15.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
Health
How healthy Ashaway is
Ashaway: 12% of adults smoke cigarettes, where Rhode Island’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 14%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Ashaway beats Rhode Island on 11 and trails on 1. 29% of adults feel lonely in the town. Among 39 Rhode Island towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Ashaway.
| Ashaway | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 85% | 79% |
32 measures vs. Rhode Island
11 better20 too close to call1 worse
| What stands out | Ashaway | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.8% | 15.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8% | 13.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 8.4% |
Westerly Hospital
4.9 mi away · emergency room
1 of 3
care shortages: mental health
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Outdoors
5.1% of the land in Ashaway is protected from building
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 1.3 miles of trail. Only 3 of the 39 Rhode Island towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Ashaway. The town’s trail network density comes in at 0.5 miles per square mile.
5.1%conserved
| Ashaway | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.1% | 12% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
5.1%
conserved · 78 of 1,537 acres
1.3 mi
of trails · 0.5 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crandall Field | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Natural hazards
Ashaway has a moderate natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
The FEMA hazard score for Ashaway comes to 47 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 81% come from inland flooding and 9% from hurricanes. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 53% of U.S. communities.
47risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingHurricanes
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Housing
A home in Ashaway sells for about $342K at the median
Ashaway’s midpoint rent stands at $1,604 a month, against $1,368 a month in Rhode Island’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. The share of households in Ashaway who are owner-occupiers: 74%.
$342Kmedian sale price
| Ashaway | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,604 a month | $1,368 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 76% | 73% |
1
homes sold in May
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Ashaway
17pages on Ashaway
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ashaway
About 2 of every 100 Ashaway residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Rhode Island.
About Ashaway
Village and CDP in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, US
Ashaway () is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, United States. It is a principal village of Hopkinton, along with Hope Valley, although it is the smaller of the two. As of the 2020 census, Ashaway had a population of 1,501. The name Ashaway is derived from the American Indian name for the river that runs through the village, the Ashawague or Ashawaug, which means "land in the middle" or "land between" in the Niantic and Mohegan languages. The name "Ashawague River" appears as late as 1832 on the Findley map of Rhode Island published in Philadelphia.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 62 ft
- ZIP code
- 02804
Ashaway’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Ashaway.
HopkintonWesterlyNorth StoningtonAshaway
How the neighbors grade
Ashaway isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ashaway with a neighbor →
Questions about Ashaway
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Ashaway, RI a good place to live?
We don’t grade Ashaway yet; the figures below are still real.