$100k salary, packing up from Boston

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Asheville, NC cityscape

next stop after boston

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

$1,448

below Boston's monthly cost

Asheville runs on a fraction of Boston's budget. Same paycheck, real lifestyle upgrade.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

45% cheaper than Boston(vs $3,145/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$42/mo less in state tax than Boston

vs 5% in Boston

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$1,448 more than Boston

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

04a house here

$430k

44% cheaper than Boston

vs $771k in Boston

05metro size

417k

vs 4.9M in Boston

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Boston only logs 160 pleasant days.

Boston hosts 4.8× more events.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

7% lower than Boston

vs 71/100 in Boston

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

·walk score®

63/100

36% lower than Boston

vs 98/100 in Boston

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

92% fewer than Boston

vs 103 nonstops in Boston

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

compare asheville with: