Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,625 at the 2020 census. Ashland is a principal city of the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area, referred to locally as the "Tri-State area", home to 359,862 residents as of 2020. Ashland serves as an important economic and medical center for northeastern Kentucky.