Ashland is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Ashland area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Ashland maintain a good economy.
The population of Ashland is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 34.85% of adults in Ashland have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Ashland in 2022 was $34,985, which is middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $139,940 for a family of four. However, Ashland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Ashland is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Ashland home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ashland residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Ashland also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.96% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Ashland include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Ashland is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
