Ashland County, OH

County Profile

52,256 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Ashland County, OH.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 34% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured56
Schools706th of 1,377 counties measured50
Growth1,329th of 1,453 counties measured24
Housing affordabilityTop 9% of 1,462 counties measured85
Climate989th of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilienceTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured91
AccessTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured98
Economic stability773rd of 1,463 counties measured58
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.1% and median household income $69,860, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 65% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.6 students for every teacher.

57 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 11% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
52,256
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,860
Top 37% nationally
Density
124/sq mi
423 sq mi of land
Median age
41.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ashland County
Ohio
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MFD
13 mi · Mansfield Lahm Rgnl
Median home value
$186,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1%, lower than in 87% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 23,975 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$49,42320th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$49,84523rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,8872024 ACS 5-Year$69,860Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4332024 ACS 5-Year$33,219Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$50,991Bottom 28%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.9 minTop 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year22.6%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.6%73rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202623,975Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.5%Bottom 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.2%Bottom 37%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202624,74738th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.2%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%34th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.4%Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.1%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.12.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202470k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,860 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

65% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 71% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.6 students for every full-time teacher across 18 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
18
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
64.7%
Top 48% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
70.9%
Top 39% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 18 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ashland High SchoolAshland City91017.852%72%
Ashland Middle SchoolAshland City69416.174%71%
Hillsdale PK-6Hillsdale Local54720.372%77%
Reagan Elementary SchoolAshland City53225.377%77%
Taft Intermediate SchoolAshland City46025.680%74%
Black River Education Center Elementary SchoolBlack River Local44319.381%77%
Ashland-W Holmes Career CenterAshland County-West Holmes Joint Vocational School44011.9——
Edison Elementary SchoolAshland City41119.672%72%
Mapleton Elementary SchoolMapleton Local36319.165%67%
Hillsdale 7-12Hillsdale Local36012.055%72%
Loudonville High SchoolLoudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village34011.037%57%
Black River High SchoolBlack River Local33916.957%77%

49.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Ohio’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio is up 50% over five years, and up 6.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,858 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.99% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 10% above the $888 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $69,860.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $888 a month.

A median home at $186,800 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,884, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
24.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$888
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$186,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Ashland County’s median household income of $69,860, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+50.3%70th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+100.5%58th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.9%70th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±612024 ACS 5-Year22,56868th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$779Top 21%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,280Top 22%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 18%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$372024 ACS 5-Year$888Bottom 47%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,4772024 ACS 5-Year$186,80052nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$702024 ACS 5-Year$1,85860th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8642024 ACS 5-Year$79,884Top 42%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.99%65th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.6%Top 23%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1592024 ACS 5-Year34249th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%35th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.7%30th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3502024 ACS 5-Year1,84852nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

24/ 100
Ranks 1,329 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 52,420 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 63 units authorized in 2025, up 3% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 57 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Ashland County gained about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $49,423, close to the $49,845 of households that moved out.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
57
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 20% nationally
Year over year
−11%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202452k52k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
21%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$49,423
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$49,845
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Richland County, OH 436 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Wayne County, OH 281 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. Lorain County, OH 141 people · 6.4% of arrivals
  4. Medina County, OH 130 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  5. Cuyahoga County, OH 92 people · 4.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Richland County, OH 514 people · 25% of departures
  2. Wayne County, OH 230 people · 11% of departures
  3. Lorain County, OH 105 people · 5.0% of departures
  4. Medina County, OH 89 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Franklin County, OH 88 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420258754
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+17%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 42.5 inches, including 49.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MANSFIELD LAHM MUNI AP, 13.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals42.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals49.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

91 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and hail, with inland flooding alone responsible for 62% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 94% of measured US counties.

HailModerate
Ice stormModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windElevated
TornadoElevated

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, lightning, landslide, heat wave, earthquake, hurricane, cold wave, wildfire, drought, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Ashland County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 12.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.3 per 100,000 residents in Ashland County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
15.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Ashland County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mansfield Lahm Rgnl at 13 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.0%Top 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle13 miTop 14%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.0%Top 40%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mansfield Lahm RgnlMFD13 mi9,001 ft
Akron-Canton RgnlCAK43 mi8,204 ft
Cleveland-Hopkins IntlCLE45 mi9,953 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Ashland County, OH

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.