Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ashland's standout: its schools outperform 97% of the state's. Overall it grades B, 159th of 249 graded towns in Virginia. Natural-hazard risk is low and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 84% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is safety: it reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, including 36 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Ashland, against 7.7% in Virginia’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Ashland is home to Randolph-Macon College.
Where Ashland beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Ashland Elementary | PK–5 | 675 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Ashland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 148 in 1860, 7,565 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1927 and 4 maps from 1951 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ashland. Close and well known come first.
6 mi Theme parkKings Dominion
16 mi LandmarkHollywood Cemetery
37 mi National MonumentGeorge Washington Birthplace National Monument72K visitors a year
14 mi LandmarkRobert E. Lee Monument
15 mi MuseumWhite House of the Confederacy
15 mi Stadium & arenaRichmond ColiseumKings Dominion: Erechtheus, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hollywood Cemetery: Andrew Bain, Public domain · George Washington Birthplace National Monument: National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain · Robert E. Lee Monument: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White House of the Confederacy: AlbertHerring, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Richmond Coliseum: Mentes at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ashland, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Ashland.
Ashland is shaped by its college students and has schools in the top 5% of Virginia, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Virginia rate.
Its A+ ranks #4 of the 250 Virginia towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Hanover County Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 675 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
10,735 jobs are based in Ashland, 3.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Ashland for work: only 14% work in town. The median household income in Ashland is $61,000. Since 2013, Ashland has added 763 jobs, to 10,735 in 2023.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $61,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 14% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 90% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ashland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime runs at 4.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Virginia rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C−. At 40.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 72% of Virginia’s graded towns.
Ashland’s violent crime rate is 4.5 per 1,000 residents. Ashland reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 84% report less.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.1 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
23.2% of residents are enrolled in college, against 6.9% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
Adults 18 to 34 are 37% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 27% of residents (39% statewide). 17% of residents are under 18 in Ashland. Ashland has grown 5.1% since 2020, to 7,982 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 30.6 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 44% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 16% | 18% |
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.4 points). Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Ashland | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 24.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.1% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 6.2% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.1% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.1% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.4% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.8% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.5% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.5% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.5% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
3.5 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Washington Lacy Park, at 137 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.9% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Washington Lacy Park | 1.1 mi | 137 |
| 2. DeJarnette Park | 0.5 mi | 20 |
| 3. Carter Park | 0.4 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Ashland has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 27° and about 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,212 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ashland’s, it is healthier than 86%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Ashland beats the Virginia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 18% of Ashland adults report frequent mental distress.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 34% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 79% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 36% | 36% |
| What stands out | Ashland | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 72.3% | 67.4% |
| Fewer adults getting cholesterol checked | 84.1% | 87.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Ashland home is worth about $464,000, up 4% in a year, 13% above the Virginia typical home.
| Ashland | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,229 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Ashland
College town 23 of every 100 Ashland residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Ashland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Ashland on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Ashland.
Town in Virginia, United States
Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located 16 miles (26 km) north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,565, up from 7,225 at the 2010 census. Ashland is named after the Lexington, Kentucky estate of Hanover County native and statesman Henry Clay. It is the only incorporated town in Hanover County. Although comprising only one square mile when originally incorporated in 1858, today Ashland has grown through several annexations to a size of 7.16 square miles (18.5 km2).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Ashland grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #159 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B for health, C− for safety and A+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 5.4 years of the area's median household income ($86,679 across the Richmond, VA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
7 notable people were born here, including Martha Dodd and Christian Compton.
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