$100k salary, packing up from Olympia

change
Asheville, NC cityscape

instead of olympia

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

$122

the monthly premium over Olympia

Almost a wash on cost. The case for Asheville is about what you'd do there, not what you'd save.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

13% cheaper than Olympia(vs $1,991/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$375/mo more in state tax than Olympia

vs 0% in Olympia

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$122 less than Olympia

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

04a house here

$430k

19% cheaper than Olympia

vs $533k in Olympia

05metro size

417k

vs 299k in Olympia

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Olympia barely cracks 182 pleasant ones.

·outdoorscore

66/100

17% lower than Olympia

vs 80/100 in Olympia

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

·walk score®

63/100

28% lower than Olympia

vs 88/100 in Olympia

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

91% fewer than Olympia

vs 90 nonstops in Olympia

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

compare asheville with: