Billboard magazine ranked the song at number 39 in their list of 50 Best Songs of 2021 So Far, stating that "If you couldn't get enough of Blackpink in late 2020, Rosé was here to serve in early 2021." Tamar Herman of South China Morning Post selected "On the Ground" as one of the 10 best songs of 2021, writing: "The Blackpink vocalist’s first solo project starts off promising to be an introspective acoustic pop song, then turns into a reflective electric track that illustrates Rosé’s clean vocals."
