Financial Advisor Salary in Asheville, NC: Median $86,946 in 2026
Asheville (NC) · COL index 106 · Unemployment 3.4% · Metro pop 475,000 · Rank #99 of 283 for Financial Advisor salary
A Financial Advisor in Asheville earns an estimated median of $86,946 per year. That figure starts from the North Carolina state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($77,430) and scales it by Asheville's composite cost-of-living index of 106 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $50,115; the 90th percentile reaches $153,174. After federal, North Carolina state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Financial Advisor takes home approximately $66,564/year — about $5,547/month or $2,560 every other week.
Compared to the national Financial Advisor median of $99,580, Asheville pays -12.7%. Relative to the Asheville median household income of $55,200, a Financial Advisorsalary runs +57.5%. Local unemployment is 3.4%[3], with an estimated 70 annual Financial Advisor openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (330,300).
Financial Advisor Snapshot — Asheville (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Asheville | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Advisor median salary | $86,946 | $99,580 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $50,115 | $60,110 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $153,174 | $239,200 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $66,564 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $423,946 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,738/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,600/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $69,236 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 106.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.4% | — | [3] |
How Financial Advisor Salaries Work in Asheville
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the North Carolina state-level OEWS median ($77,430) and scaling by Asheville's composite cost-of-living index (106)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and North Carolina state income tax at a 3.6% effective rate ($3,153/yr on the $86,946 median)[10].
Asheville also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $69,236, which frames what "a good Financial Advisor salary" means locally: a $$86,946 wage pays about 126% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Asheville
Estimated annual expense shares on a $66,564 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Asheville's COL index of 106. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Asheville's COL index of 106[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,450/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Asheville
Renting
Buying
At $5,547/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,664/mo. Asheville's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,738/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,600/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Financial Advisor salary. For homebuyers, the 4.5× price-to-income ratio is workable with a strong credit profile and manageable other debts.
How Asheville Stacks Up for Financial Advisors
Against 283 major US cities: Asheville ranks #99 for nominal Financial Advisor salary, #177 for rent affordability, and #189 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Asheville's nominal wage premium. Financial Advisors here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Financial Advisor Salary Comparison
Asheville's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs NC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville, NC ★ | $86,946 | 106 | $1,450 | — |
| Charlotte, NC | $103,563 | 104 | $1,595 | +19.1% |
| Raleigh, NC | $104,559 | 105 | $1,131 | +20.3% |
| Durham, NC | $103,563 | 104 | $1,350 | +19.1% |
| Greensboro, NC | $87,630 | 88 | $949 | +0.8% |
| Winston-Salem, NC | $87,630 | 88 | $950 | +0.8% |
Financial Advisor Job Market in Asheville
Asheville has an estimated 70 annual Financial Advisoropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 330,300 national Financial Advisors[1]. The 3.4% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Personal financial advisors help clients manage their finances, plan for retirement, and invest wisely. Commission-based advisors can earn significantly more than the median. Typical entry requirement: bachelor's degree. This is one of the fastest-growing US occupations — 17% projected through 2034[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Asheville
Early-career Financial Advisors in Asheville start around $50,115, reach the city median ($86,946) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($153,174) at senior / specialized levels.
Related finance professions in Asheville
Calculators for Financial Advisors in Asheville
Other professions in Asheville
Frequently Asked Questions — Financial Advisor in Asheville
How much does a Financial Advisor make in Asheville, NC?
The estimated median salary for a Financial Advisor in Asheville is $86,946/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS North Carolina state median ($77,430) by Asheville's composite cost-of-living index of 106 (US = 100). After federal, North Carolina state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $66,564/year or $5,547/month.
Can a Financial Advisor afford to live in Asheville?
On $5,547/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,664/month. Asheville's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,738/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,600/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 20.0%, making housing very affordable for a Financial Advisor at the local median. Home-buyers face 4.5× price-to-income, needing roughly 4.5 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Financial Advisor pay in Asheville?
On $86,946 gross, a Financial Advisor in Asheville pays approximately $10,577 in federal income tax (12.2% effective), $3,153 in North Carolina state income tax (3.6% effective), and $6,652 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 23.4%. Some North Carolina cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Asheville rank for Financial Advisor salaries vs other cities?
Asheville ranks #99 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Financial Advisor salary, #177 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #189 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Financial Advisor in Asheville?
On $66,564 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Asheville looks like: housing $17,400/yr (26.1%); food $8,275/yr; transportation $6,816/yr; healthcare $4,743/yr; utilities $3,428/yr; savings + discretionary $25,902/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Asheville's COL index of 106 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Financial Advisor job market like in Asheville?
Asheville's unemployment rate is 3.4% across the metro of 475,000. Estimated annual Financial Advisor openings: ~70 (extrapolated from 330,300 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Asheville employers pay above or below the North Carolina median for Financial Advisors?
Not consistently — Asheville's estimated Financial Advisor median of $86,946 is 12.7% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Asheville median is derived from the North Carolina state-level BLS OEWS median ($77,430), scaled by Asheville's composite cost-of-living index of 106. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Financial Advisormedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses North Carolina's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 106index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 94.4(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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