City · Ashland County, Wisconsin

Ashland, Wisconsin

Ashland is a city in Ashland County, Wisconsin. It has 7,902 residents. Ashland, Wisconsin has a quality-of-life score of 66 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,349 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Wisconsin it ranks #333 of 396 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), primary care physicians (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), injury deaths (high) and comfortable days (low).

66High

Quality-of-life score: #5,349 of 15,651 cities and towns
Wisconsin: #333 of 396 in WI
Population: 7,902 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 591.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 5503225

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety62#5,964/15,637
Economy18#12,745/15,631
Housing75#3,731/14,977
Health18#12,843/15,609
Healthcare68#4,993/15,650
Environment93#1,068/15,453
Education81#2,999/15,649
Infrastructure32#10,707/15,650
Community70#4,652/15,651
Leisure & amenities79#3,289/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Ashland, Wisconsin ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Ashland County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Natural hazard risk · low0.6
100/100Wisconsin 10.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyAshland County value
Primary care physicians · high193 /100k
100/100Wisconsin 82 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAshland County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.2 µg/m³
99/100Wisconsin 7.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAshland County value
Restaurants and bars · high22.2 /10k
99/100Wisconsin 12.7 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAshland County value
Average commute time · low13.5 min
99/100Wisconsin 22.2 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Hot days · low0 days
98/100Wisconsin 4 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAshland County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high162 mi
2/100Wisconsin 37 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAshland County value
Injury deaths · high148 /100k
4/100Wisconsin 101 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAshland County value
Comfortable days · low22.3%
4/100Wisconsin 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAshland County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high153 mi
4/100Wisconsin 40 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAshland County value
Child care cost burden · high41.5%
5/100Wisconsin 30.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAshland County value
Job growth · low-2.5%
9/100Wisconsin 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataAshland County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
68.1% (2015-2019) → 84.9% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
25.7% (2015-2019) → 9.8% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
55.5% (2015-2019) → 41.2% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.4 /1k (2021) → 0.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−67%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$38,222 (2015-2019) → $54,529 (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
23.7% (2015-2019) → 29.5% (2020-2024)
+5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Ashland, Wisconsin improved on 6 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved6

Child poverty−16 points25.7% → 9.8%
Property tax−0.4 points1.97% → 1.53%
Broadband+17 points68.1% → 84.9%
Rent / income−5.3 points32.2% → 26.9%
Household income+43%$38,222 → $54,529

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Ashland, Wisconsin between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.5 min2015-2019	13.5 min2020-2024	+1.0 min	Within the margin of error	36%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.7%2015-2019	29.5%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Improved	73%
Broadband subscriptions	68.1%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	84%
Child poverty rate	25.7%2015-2019	9.8%2020-2024	−16 points	Improved	90%
Effective property tax rate	1.97%2015-2019	1.53%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Improved	88%
High school diploma or higher	93.9%2015-2019	95.9%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	53%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4552015-2019	0.4502020-2024	−0.005	Within the margin of error	55%
Median household income	$38,2222015-2019	$54,5292020-2024	+43%	Improved	77%
Poverty rate	20.2%2015-2019	17.8%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Rent as share of income	32.2%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Improved	84%
Rent-burdened households	55.5%2015-2019	41.2%2020-2024	−14 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Unemployment rate	4.6%2015-2019	3.7%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.0%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	20%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Ashland, Wisconsin five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ashland, Wisconsin in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Ashland, Wisconsin itself moved +12.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,902 residents (±28)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,399 households (±143)

Ashland, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Under $25k25%860
$25k–50k21%707
$50k–75k17%569

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,399 households (±143)

Ashland, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Own63%2,130
Rent37%1,269

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,909 workers (±219)

Ashland, Wisconsin
Wisconsin share

Drive alone71%2,786
Carpool6.8%†266
Public transit0.8%†

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Ashland County, the county holding most of Ashland's residents.

Ashland County has 491 employer establishments, 304 for every 10,000 residents (1.23× the US rate of 248; 1.25× Wisconsin's), with 5,987 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,135. The Census Bureau also counts 1,191 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 491; 1,191 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 304; US 248 · Wisconsin 244
Paid employees: 5,987
Average annual pay: $46,135; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Ashland County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	38	23.6	1.52×More than typical	304	$70,441	124
Restaurants and other eating places	34	21.1	1.15×About typical	447	$19,955	4
Ambulatory health care services	25	15.5	0.74×Fewer than typical	364	$71,423	34
Full-service restaurants	20	12.4	1.61×More than typical	236	$21,131	—
Building equipment contractors	18	11.2	1.85×More than typical	181	$74,188	22
Construction of buildings	17	10.5	1.39×More than typical	68	$41,956	91
Religious organizations	16	9.9	1.79×More than typical	67	$15,299	—
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	15	9.3	7.67×More than typical	48	$14,729	8
Gasoline stations	13	8.1	2.49×More than typical	173	$26,006	—
Truck transportation	13	8.1	1.59×More than typical	53	$39,340	26
Limited-service restaurants	12	7.4	0.93×About typical	197	$18,701	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	12	7.4	1.10×About typical	54	$21,500	92

Rank places for an industry Open Ashland County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,134 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $35.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Ashland, Wisconsin: $4.50 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $35.5K; −24% vs FY2025
Per resident: $4.50; US $1,994
Sole-source: 12%; US 30%
Single offer: 17%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$16.4K46%
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service$5,25015%
U.S. Geological Survey$5,16615%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$3,2609.2%
National Park Service$2,4076.8%
Defense Logistics Agency$1,6704.7%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$1,4244.0%

Top recipients

M JOLMA INC.$11.9K33%
SUPERIOR FENCE & EXCAVATING, LLC$5,25015%
PANACEA CONSTRUCTION GROUP LLC$4,49013%
M & S INC$3,2609.2%
KASSIDY FRAME$1,8785.3%

Spending by fiscal year

44.5KFY2017
14.1KFY2018
16.3KFY2019
43.2KFY2020
30.2KFY2021
26.7KFY2022
25KFY2023
194.3KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other specialty trade contractors · 2389$17.1K48%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$4,49013%
Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$3,5189.9%
Other textile product mills · 3149$3,2609.2%
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing · 3341$2,0845.9%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Ashland, Wisconsin, so they do not add up across cities.

Ashland, Wisconsin's figures are part of those of Ashland County, WI and Bayfield County, WI ($3.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Ashland is mostly in Ashland County.

See federal money in Ashland County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Ashland, Wisconsin is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Thomas P. TiffanyR-WI-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 10.4%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Ashland County77100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Ashland County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5503225

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends