landable/cost of living comparison
vs

01 · the cities

San Francisco

San Francisco is hills, fog, Mission burritos the size of forearms, and pastel Victorians stacked like dominoes. Karl the Fog has his own Instagram, the cable cars are still mechanically pulled by cables running under the street, and the Pacific shows up at the end of every west-bound avenue. The food is wildly good, the views are theatrical, and yes, you'll get cardio just walking to the corner store.

full dispatch

Asheville

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.

full dispatch

02 · the money

Median rent

$3,146/mo

$1,738/mo

$1,408/mo less than San Francisco (81%)

Median home price

$1.2M

$430k

$809k less than San Francisco

State income tax

9.3%

4.5%

Gross left after rent

$4,412/mo

$6,220/mo

Asheville has $1,808/mo more gross after rent at $100k

Gross left after rent reflects state income tax but not federal, based on $100k salary. Enter your salary to find your ideal city.

03 · the weather

Pleasant days/yr

312 days

201 days

111 fewer than San Francisco

Extreme heat days

0 days

0 days

days above 95°F per year

Extreme cold days

0 days

13 days

days below 20°F per year

Asheville drops below 20°F on 13 more days per year than San Francisco.

04 · the life

OutdoorScore

83 / 100

66 / 100

17.0 pts behind San Francisco

Walk Score®

99 / 100

63 / 100

36 pts behind San Francisco

Nonstop flights

111 routes

8 routes

103 fewer direct routes than San Francisco

Metro size

4.6M metro

417k metro

San Francisco has 7.4x more events per month than Asheville.

the verdict

4

San Francisco

categories won

of 9

4

Asheville

categories won

San Francisco wins on weather and lifestyle, Asheville wins on money. Dead even.

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We use a proprietary blend of data from the US Census, Zillow, Ticketmaster, and more.

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