$100k salary, packing up from Lexington

change
Asheville, NC cityscape

swapping out of lexington

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

$250

the monthly premium over Lexington

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

17% more expensive than Lexington(vs $1,488/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

vs 4.5% in Lexington

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$250 less than Lexington

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

04a house here

$430k

33% more expensive than Lexington

vs $324k in Lexington

05metro size

417k

vs 520k in Lexington

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Lexington keeps to 171 pleasant days a year.

Comparable to Lexington for events and concerts.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

10% higher than Lexington

vs 60/100 in Lexington

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

·walk score®

63/100

28% lower than Lexington

vs 88/100 in Lexington

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

38% fewer than Lexington

vs 13 nonstops in Lexington

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

compare asheville with: