Ashton is a tiny village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 947 people and just one neighborhood, Ashton is the 684th largest community in Illinois. Ashton has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic villages.
Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Ashton is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 39.66% of the Ashton workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Ashton is a village of service providers, sales and office workers, and transportation and shipping workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Ashton who work in office and administrative support (14.37%), maintenance occupations (8.62%), and management occupations (7.18%).
Of important note, Ashton is also a village of artists. Ashton has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Ashton’s character.
The overall crime rate in Ashton is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime.
Being a small village, Ashton does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The population of Ashton has a very low overall level of education: only 7.97% of people over 25 hold a 4-year college degree or higher.
The per capita income in Ashton in 2022 was $28,320, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $113,280 for a family of four. However, Ashton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Ashton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ashton residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ashton include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Ashton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Ashton, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Unpopulated, and rural, the neighborhood is one of the least crowded neighborhoods in all of America. If you like open space, no traffic, and lots of room, this neighborhood may be just what you are looking for. According to NeighborhoodScout's leading research, this neighborhood is less densely populated than 95.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
Do you like to be surrounded by people from all over the country or world, with different perspectives and life experiences? Or do you instead prefer to be in a neighborhood where most residents have lived there for a long time, creating a sense of cohesiveness? NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood stands out among American neighborhoods for the uniqueness of the mobility of its residents. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 97.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Norwegian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 6.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Norwegian ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Ashton are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 59.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 14.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 59.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 36.8% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 28.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.6%), and 12.2% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Ashton, IL, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (23.3%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (14.3%), and residents who report English roots (13.6%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (6.5%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (6.0%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (33.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (76.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (15.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.