Asheville’s Growth is Estimable—and It’s Just Heating Up

We hear approximate estimates all the time of Asheville’s growth, inestimable definitions full of vague modifiers like “double” and “times.” We all know Asheville’s growing—anyone who’s been here more than a few months can attest to the expanding crowds of pedestrians on Broadway and bellying up to our beer bars—but how? What do those numbers actually look like in 2018?

We tapped the Chamber of Commerce to share the stats, facts and figures on Asheville’s latest growth. The numbers aren’t necessarily surprising, but they are steady, and projections (spurred by nods by “best of” city lists around the world) predict it’s only the beginning. 

  • Asheville Metro (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison Counties) Population in 2017: 456,420.
» The highest percentage population? Folks 65 to 69; there are 33,084 of people in that age group in the area. 
» Another powerhouse pop’? Millennials. Estimates put the number at 80,033 “millennials,” aged 20-34, in the Asheville Metro area. 
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  • Asheville is way below the national average on both violent crime and property crime. 
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  • In 2012, the region offered 167,794 jobs. In 2017? 186,003. That’s a growth of more than 18,000 jobs in just 5 years.
» The largest employment sector in the Asheville area is Health Care and Social Assistance, employing 33,027 locals.
» That sector also added the most jobs over the last five years, growing by 4,577 or 16%. 
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  • Small biz is big in Asheville: 96% of establishments in the Asheville Metro have fewer than 50 employees.
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  • In 2015, the median household income was estimated at $44,826. That’s projected to grow to over $50,000 this year. 
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  • Asheville’s cost of living is below the national average. 
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  • Asheville’s growth is literal, too. Construction sector jobs in the Asheville area rose 14% from 2013-2015 for notable projects like the Mission Hospital tower and A-B Technical Community College’s Ferguson Center.