Ashtabula is the largest city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the mouth of the Ashtabula River, on Lake Erie, 53 miles (85 km) northeast of Cleveland. At the 2020 census, the city had 17,975 people. Like many other cities in the Rust Belt, it has lost population because of a decline in industrial jobs since the 1960s. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.

The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Cuyahoga County, Ashtabula County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain County, and Medina County, and has a population of 2,185,825, making it the 33rd-most populous metropolitan area in the United States and the third largest metropolitan area in Ohio. The metro area is also part of the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area with a population of over 3.7 million people, the most populous statistical area in Ohio and the 17th most populous in the United States.