$100k salary, packing up from Austin

change
Asheville, NC cityscape

instead of austin

Asheville

nc · metro 417k

a dispatch from

asheville

NC

35.58°N

82.55°W

Asheville is what happens when a mountain town and an art school have a baby and raise it on craft beer. Downtown packs more breweries per capita than almost anywhere in America, plus buskers on every corner and Art Deco buildings the Depression accidentally preserved (the city went broke before it could tear them down). The Biltmore, America's largest private home, looms on the edge of town like a stone-carved flex. Remote workers keep showing up, which is how you know.

metro417k

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$530

the monthly premium over Austin

Asheville costs meaningfully more. Whether it earns that back in the day-to-day is the actual question.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

10% more expensive than Austin(vs $1,583/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$375/mo more in state tax than Austin

vs 0% in Austin

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$530 less than Austin

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$430k

1% cheaper than Austin

vs $433k in Austin

05metro size

417k

vs 2.5M in Austin

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Austin keeps to 170 pleasant days a year.

71% fewer events than Austin. The pace eases up.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

18% higher than Austin

vs 56/100 in Austin

Closest outdoor draw: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 74.8 mi.

·walk score®

63/100

36% lower than Austin

vs 99/100 in Austin

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

81% fewer than Austin

vs 42 nonstops in Austin

04 · see also

cities that play in asheville's register:

compare asheville with: