Kingston → Asheville
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Kingston to Asheville is favorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 100.7 to 96.5 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent falls by $251/mo.
- -$2,384
- BLS median salary lower in Asheville
- 380 to 365
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 11.8:1 to 15.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $4,382
- DOL infant care lower / yr in Asheville
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + 4% lower cost of living
- + $251/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + More affordable childcare
- + Fewer environmental violations
Cons of Moving
- - $2K lower median salary
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
Purchasing power stays near-even: BEA RPP moves only from 100.7 to 96.5 (ratio 0.96), inside a ±5% band. HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent drops $251/mo ($3,012/yr) from $1,818 in Kingston to $1,567 in Asheville.
Asheville leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, a destination-heavy ledger. Asheville sits #262 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Kingston is #330/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Favorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $2,384 lower ($66,733 → $64,349). Labor-market size: 52,520 tracked jobs at origin vs 172,630 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors the destination: North Carolina scores 68 (C, #13/51) vs New York at 46 (F, #46/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 48
- Estate tax
- 50
- Healthcare
- 96
- Income tax
- 68
- Property tax
- 66
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 30
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Kingston to see what you'd need to earn in Asheville to maintain the same purchasing power.
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026