Ashland County vs Rusk County

A side-by-side comparison of Ashland County and Rusk County: population, income, housing, and more.

Ashland County and Rusk County are counties in Wisconsin. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ashland County has the higher population (16,050 vs 14,146 in Rusk County). Rusk County has the higher median household income ($58,322 vs $57,645 in Ashland County). Ashland County has the higher median home value ($160,500 vs $152,000 in Rusk County).

Population, income & housing

	Ashland County	Rusk County
Population	16,050	14,146
Median age	43.1 yrs	49.1 yrs
Median household income	$57,645	$58,322
Median home value	$160,500	$152,000
Median gross rent	$665	$816
Housing units	9,402	8,679
Homeownership rate	72.4%	77.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.1%	16.3%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	4.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ashland County	Rusk County
Population	15,617 → 16,050 (+2.8%)	14,132 → 14,146 (+0.1%)
Median household income	$42,510 → $57,645 (+35.6%)	$47,532 → $58,322 (+22.7%)
Median home value	$113,100 → $160,500 (+41.9%)	$113,400 → $152,000 (+34.0%)
Median gross rent	$631 → $665 (+5.4%)	$661 → $816 (+23.4%)

Ashland County

Population

15,61716,050

Median household income

$42,510$57,645

Median home value

$113,100$160,500

Median gross rent

$631$665

Rusk County

Population

14,13214,146

Median household income

$47,532$58,322

Median home value

$113,400$152,000

Median gross rent

$661$816

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ashland County	Rusk County
Under 5	5.1%	5.0%
5 to 17	16.0%	15.2%
18 to 24	9.2%	6.3%
25 to 34	10.5%	9.1%
35 to 44	11.3%	10.2%
45 to 54	10.9%	12.3%
55 to 64	15.9%	16.6%
65 to 74	13.1%	15.4%
75 and over	8.0%	10.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ashland County	Rusk County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.9%	93.7%
Black or African American	0.8%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	9.2%	0.4%
Asian	0.7%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	4.5%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	2.9%	2.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ashland County	Rusk County
No high school diploma	4.8%	7.7%
High school graduate	35.7%	43.4%
Some college or associate's	37.4%	32.7%
Bachelor's degree	14.6%	12.3%
Graduate or professional degree	7.5%	4.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ashland County	Rusk County
Drove alone	73.6%	79.6%
Carpooled	8.0%	8.6%
Public transit	1.7%	0.3%
Walked	6.3%	1.5%
Bicycle	1.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.5%	9.1%
Other means	1.0%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ashland County	Rusk County
1-unit, detached	76.0%	83.4%
1-unit, attached	1.6%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	7.7%	3.2%
5 to 19 units	5.2%	2.6%
20 or more units	2.4%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	7.0%	8.4%

Poverty & households

	Ashland County	Rusk County
Poverty rate	16.4%	12.5%
Average household size	2.25	2.23
Mean commute (minutes)	17	27
Median year structure built	1972	1976