$100k salary, packing up from Salem

change
Asheville, NC cityscape

swapping out of salem

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

$258

below Salem's monthly cost

The gap is real. Asheville costs noticeably less than Salem, every month.
landable, recorded on the asheville entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,738/mo

6% more expensive than Salem(vs $1,642/mo)

02state income tax

4.5%

$354/mo less in state tax than Salem

vs 8.75% in Salem

03after rent

$6,220/mo

$258 more than Salem

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

04a house here

$430k

5% cheaper than Salem

vs $452k in Salem

05metro size

417k

vs 437k in Salem

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

201

pleasant days a year, in asheville.

Salem only logs 201 pleasant days.

3400% more happening than in Salem.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

66/100

4% lower than Salem

vs 69/100 in Salem

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

·walk score®

63/100

28% lower than Salem

vs 88/100 in Salem

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

8

0% fewer than Salem

vs 0 nonstops in Salem

04 · see also

neighbors of asheville on the map of tradeoffs:

compare asheville with: