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About Ashland
Ashland is a city in Jackson County at the southern end of the Rogue Valley, about 1,949 feet above sea level. Settlers arrived in January 1852. It is home to Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Ashland in numbers
| Measure | Ashland |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 21,360 |
| Population, July 1, 2025 estimate | 21,862 |
| Households (ACS 2020-2024) | 10,536 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 51.6% |
| Median household income | $68,028 |
| Median owner-occupied home value | $583,800 |
| Median age | 47.7 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 29.9% |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more (ACS) | 4,940 of 5,441 (90.8%) |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $750,000 or more (ACS) | 1,089 |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97520 | 997 |
A plain reading
Ashland has fewer owners than the other Rogue Valley towns in this network, with about half of households renting, which fits a university town. Homes are valued high: nine in ten owner-occupied homes are worth $300,000 or more by the ACS count, and the median is $583,800 against $417,100 in Medford. Almost three in ten residents are 65 or older.
The Jackson County assessor tells a similar story. Our market research counted 7,425 residential lots with buildings inside the city, with 6,991 of them valued at $300,000 or more. That figure comes from Jackson County assessor data via our market research, and it counts edge lots touching the city line, so it runs a little high. It is a different measure from the ACS count above, because it counts lots, including rentals, not owner-reported values.
In ZIP 97520, the largest industry groups are health care and social assistance (154 establishments), retail (147), lodging and food service (140) and professional and technical services (119).
How we got these numbers
- Households, tenure, income, home value, age and home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, read through Census Reporter. They are survey estimates with a margin of error.
- The 2020 population is the 2020 Census count. The 2025 figure is the certified estimate of the Portland State University Population Research Center for July 1, 2025.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and leave out businesses with no paid employees.
- The assessor figures were queried from the Jackson County taxlot layer in October 2026 for lots inside the Ashland city boundary.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- Jackson County
- Ashland, Oregon (Wikipedia)
- City of Ashland
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in East Medford, Oregon · Oregon Living in Jacksonville, Oregon · Oregon Living in Talent and Phoenix, Oregon.