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 376,155 residents as of 2020. Ashland serves as an important economic and medical center for northeastern Kentucky.

Boyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, its population was 48,261. The county seat is Catlettsburg, and its largest city is Ashland. The county was formed in 1860. The county spans 160 square miles (410 km2), and is found at the northeastern edge of the state, near the Ohio River and Big Sandy River and situated in mountainous Appalachia. Boyd County is in the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH metropolitan statistical area.