$100k a year, no longer in Grand Rapids

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Asheville, NC cityscape

from grand rapids

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

$139

more each month than Grand Rapids ran you

A small premium for Asheville. Worth it only if the rest of the city earns it back.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

7% more expensive than Grand Rapids(vs $1,620/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$21/mo more in state tax than Grand Rapids

vs 4.25% in Grand Rapids

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$139 less than Grand Rapids

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

04a house here

$430k

22% more expensive than Grand Rapids

vs $353k in Grand Rapids

05metro size

417k

vs 1.2M in Grand Rapids

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Grand Rapids only manages 151 of those.

But the calendar thins out: Grand Rapids stays 2.0× busier.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

18% higher than Grand Rapids

vs 56/100 in Grand Rapids

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

·walk score®

63/100

35% lower than Grand Rapids

vs 97/100 in Grand Rapids

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

60% fewer than Grand Rapids

vs 20 nonstops in Grand Rapids

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

compare asheville with: