Asheville, North Carolina
Cost of living, housing, income, commute, climate, and safety — compiled for relocators researching Asheville.
Key figures
Each metric shows how Asheville compares with the U.S. baseline (ACS/BLS nationals where available; catalog-city averages for crime, climate, and commute). Income, housing, population, and crime are for the incorporated city (city limits), not the broader metro/MSA — unemployment is county-level (BLS LAUS).
- Population
- 94,589City limits · not metro/MSA
- Median household income
- $52,000Incorporated place (ACS)34% below U.S. avgU.S. $78,538
- Housing cost index
- 112ACS home+rent vs U.S. (100 = avg)12% above U.S. avgU.S. 100
- Median home value
- $430,000City limits (ACS)42% above U.S. avgU.S. $303,400
- Median rent
- $1,500City limits (ACS)11% above U.S. avgU.S. $1,348
- Unemployment
- 3.3%County LAUS · not city-onlyNear U.S. avg (4.2 pts)U.S. 4.2 pts
- Avg commute
- 21 min16% below U.S. avgU.S. 25 min
- Walk Score
- 3522% below U.S. avgU.S. 45
- Violent crime rate
- 42launch estimate, not FBI-verified yet
- Property crime rate
- 62launch estimate, not FBI-verified yet
- Summer high
- 84°F3.0°F below U.S. avgU.S. 87°F
- Winter low
- 28°F6.0°F below U.S. avgU.S. 34°F
- Annual rainfall
- 46 in40% above U.S. avgU.S. 32.9 in
- Sunny days
- 20025% below U.S. avgU.S. 266
Compare Asheville with another city
Asheville, North Carolina counts about 94,589 residents inside the city limits. Median household income is roughly $52,000, while the ACS housing-cost index sits near 112 — close to the national housing-cost baseline (100 ≈ U.S. average). A typical home near $430,000 and rents around $1,500 frame most shortlists.
Asheville is compact enough that a single wrong neighborhood choice is easy to feel day to day — visit at commute hour before signing. Figures on this page are merged from Census ACS, BLS LAUS, FBI Crime Data Explorer, and NOAA Climate Normals — use them to compare Asheville with nearby alternatives before you relocate.
Piedmont research corridors and coastal storm exposure both matter. The normals show about 46 inches of rain and 200 sunny days across a typical year. Plan on roughly 21 minutes each way for a typical commute; Walk Score is about 35. Unemployment recently ran near 3.3%, broadly in line with many large U.S. counties. Crime figures here are a directional launch estimate pending a live FBI Crime Data Explorer pull — not yet a per-100k rate, so treat it as a rough signal rather than a citywide index.
Nearby & similar cities
Continue researching with these internal links — each page is a full data profile.
Sources
- Census / ACS: U.S. Census Bureau / American Community Survey (curated seed)
- BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics (curated seed)
- Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer (curated seed)
- Climate: NOAA Climate Normals (curated seed)
Last updated 2026-07-28
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