Overview
- Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, in the Southeastern United States.
- In 2010, the City of Asheville’s population was 83,393 with a total land area of 44.93 square miles, and a population density of 1,855.9 persons per square mile.
- It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, which consists of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties.
- Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the confluence of the Swannanoa River and the French Broad River, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina.
Asheville is consistently ranked highly among the best places to live, work, and retire in the US.
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce reports that in 2013, alone:
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce reports that in 2013, alone:
- Asheville was named one of the “Top 100 Best Places to Live” (Livability.com, October 2013)
- UNC Asheville was named seventh best public liberal arts college in the nation (U.S. News & Word Report, 2014 Best Colleges Guide)
- Asheville was ranked 29th among 200 US cities as a best place for business and careers (Forbes.com, August 2013)
- Asheville was named one of “5 of the Healthiest & Greenest Cities in America” (Greener Ideal, March 2013)
- Asheville was named number one retirement community in “100 Best Places to Retire for 2013” (TopRetirements.com, February 2013).