$100k a year, no longer in Los Angeles

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Asheville, NC cityscape

swapping out of los angeles

Asheville

nc · metro 417k

photo: Ken Jacobsen / pexels

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

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01 · the verdict

the verdict

$1,561

under Los Angeles, every month

Asheville is the kind of cheap that changes the math. Same salary, a different life on the other side.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

40% cheaper than Los Angeles(vs $2,899/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$400/mo less in state tax than Los Angeles

vs 9.3% in Los Angeles

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$1,561 more than Los Angeles

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

04a house here

$430k

58% cheaper than Los Angeles

vs $1029k in Los Angeles

05metro size

417k

vs 12.8M in Los Angeles

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Los Angeles has the edge here, logging 283 pleasant days a year.

90% fewer events than Los Angeles. The pace eases up.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

1% lower than Los Angeles

vs 67/100 in Los Angeles

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

·walk score®

63/100

34% lower than Los Angeles

vs 96/100 in Los Angeles

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

95% fewer than Los Angeles

vs 150 nonstops in Los Angeles

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

see also

charleston

more flight options

turn the page

see also

greenville

$21/mo cheaper

turn the page

see also

reno

$205/mo cheaper

turn the page

compare asheville with:

CharlestonGreenvilleReno