Ashtabula is the most populous city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on to Lake Erie, 53 miles (85 km) northeast of Cleveland. The city had 17,975 people at the 2020 census. 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.