Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Asheville's police reported 714 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C, 164th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 81% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $444K, 6.2 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 96 places on the National Register. 52% of working residents work locally in Asheville, against 6.8% in North Carolina’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Thomas Wolfe House and Richmond Hill House. On safety, just 13 of North Carolina’s 190 towns do worse.
Where Asheville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Thomas Wolfe House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College | 4,301 |
| University of North Carolina Asheville | 2,891 |
| Galen Health Institutes-Asheville | 183 |
Thomas Wolfe House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier. Its 96 National Register listings are more than in any other North Carolina town with a listing.
Census counts: 38 in 1800, 94,589 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 1793.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Asheville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Asheville. Close and well known come first.
3 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
Big draw21 mi MountainMount Mitchell
Big draw26 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
20 mi National forestPisgah National Forest31 mi Theme parkGhost Town in the Sky
20 mi State parkChimney Rock State ParkBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Asheville, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Asheville.
Asheville draws workers from Charlotte and beyond, but it reports violent crime at about twice the North Carolina rate and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of North Carolina.
Violent crime runs at 7.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Woodfin (B−) to Biltmore Forest (A−).
The violent crime rate in Asheville is 7.5 per 1,000 residents. Asheville reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less. The property crime rate in Asheville is 43.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.5 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 43.5 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Buncombe County Schools. Three of its 39 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estes ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 754 | C+ |
| Roberson HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,479 | A |
| Nesbitt Discovery AcademyTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 372 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
88,469 jobs are based in Asheville, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.2 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Asheville’s average trip to work is 18 minutes. Jobs based in Asheville grew to 88,469 in 2023, 13,316 more than in 2013. 20% of Asheville workers work from home.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 13% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
27 miles of trail in 42 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Mountainside Park, 34 acres with 1 miles of trail.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mountainside Park | 1 mi | 34 |
| 2. Carrier Park | 0.9 mi | 30 |
| 3. Ray L Kisiah Park | 0.6 mi | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Asheville. Asheville beats the North Carolina average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 12% of adults report frequent physical distress in Asheville.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Asheville | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.3% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 20% | 23.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 6.2 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $445K) costs more against local pay than in 87% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The typical value, about $445K, is 8% below its January 2025 peak.
Typical home values fell 5% in the year to September 2026.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,402 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 49% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Asheville weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 205 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 76% of North Carolina places with climate records. January nights average 26.7°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 93% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 85°.
Asheville has chilly winters and warm summers. About 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Asheville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 85°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 31°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
505 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 50 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 505 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Asheville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5 within 15 miles of the center of Asheville
About 7 of every 100 Asheville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
4 colleges in town.
96 places in Asheville on the National Register of Historic Places.
46 notable people were born in Asheville.
City in North Carolina, United States
Asheville ( ASH-vill) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populous city in Western North Carolina and the state's 11th-most populous city with a population of 94,589 at the 2020 census. The three-county Asheville metropolitan area has an estimated 422,000 residents.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Asheville.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Woodfin (B−) is closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville | #164 | C | D | D− | B | A− |
| Woodfin | #111 | B− | D | B− | B | A− |
| Emma | #16 | A− | A+ | — | B | C |
| Biltmore Forest | — | — | D− | A− | B | A+ |
| Royal Pines | #29 | B+ | C | — | B | A |
| Fletcher | #48 | B+ | C | B | B+ | A |
| Mills River | #40 | B+ | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Avery Creek | #3 | A | B | — | B | A+ |
Biltmore Forest has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Emma, Royal Pines, Mills River and Avery Creek report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Asheville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Asheville grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #164 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A− for health, D− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
46 notable people were born here, including Thomas Wolfe and Kenneth Noland.
