Photo: Billertl · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Ashland are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 17.8% of residents, where Wisconsin as a whole has 10.6%. Jobs and income earn Ashland C−; getting around on foot earns it A. About half stay in Ashland for work; outside it, Washburn is the main destination (5%, 7 miles).
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 where the jobs are
Ashland has 5,016 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Ashland are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 22 across Wisconsin. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Wisconsin worker, and quicker than any town next door (17 to 18 minutes). 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.
Ashland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ashland is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #346 of 362 in Wisconsin. Unemployment holds Ashland’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($54,529, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashland could be anywhere from D to C+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Ashland
On a workday 1,625 residents head out to work, 1,640 work right here, and 3,376 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,700 people are in Ashland on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 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.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of Wisconsin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashland workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,535 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who travels to work in Ashland, and from where
Where Ashland clocks in
5% 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.
Jobs in Ashland: what the 5,016 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 5,192 → 5,016. 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ashland
About 29% 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.
Ashland is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashland is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #9 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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 3,909 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.4% of Ashland households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ashland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,700, Ashland ranks 2,595th of 3,069 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,593 | Tarrant AL | 5,639 | $42K | 24.2% | 7.2% | 4% | C− |
| 2,594 | Barnesville GA | 6,329 | $57K | 14.0% | 5.6% | 11% | C− |
| 2,595 | Ashland WI | 7,927 | $55K | 17.8% | 3.7% | 50% | C− |
| 2,596 | Niagara NY | 7,668 | $57K | 21.3% | 9.2% | 10% | C− |
| 2,597 | Pike Township OH | 6,719 | $59K | 21.1% | 4.3% | 25% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,069 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Wisconsin.
Ashland and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Eileen (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | – | C− | A | 14 min | $54,529 |
| Gingles | under 1% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Eileen | 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Sanborn | under 1% | D | B− | 17 min | $53,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gingles and Eileen: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$54,529 (±$7,011) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashland?
17.8%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashland?
14 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashland work?
50% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washburn (5%, 7 mi), White River (3%, 9 mi), Superior (3%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashland walkable?
Ashland is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.