The Asheville metropolitan area is a

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

centered on the principal city of

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. The U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

defines the Asheville, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, a

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

used by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

and other entities, as comprising the four counties of Buncombe, Haywood,

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

, and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. According to the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, the area's population was 424,858. And 469,454 according to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

Counties

* Buncombe * Haywood *

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

Communities

Places with more than 50,000 inhabitants

* Asheville (Principal city)

Places with 5,000 to 15,000 inhabitants

* Black Mountain * Brevard * East Flat Rock * Etowah * Fletcher * Hendersonville *

Mills River The Mills River is located in Transylvania and Henderson counties, North Carolina, United States is a tributary of the French Broad River. The river flows out of the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest in two forks: the North ...

* Swannanoa * Waynesville * Woodfin

Places with 2,500 to 5,000 inhabitants

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

* Flat Rock *

Lake Junaluska Lake Junaluska is a census-designated place (CDP) in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States, and a manmade lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Junaluska is named after nearby ...

* Weaverville

Places with 1,000 to 2,500 inhabitants

Avery Creek Avery Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,950 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Avery Creek is located in southern ...

* Balfour * Barker Heights * Bent Creek *

Biltmore Forest Biltmore Forest is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,343 in 2010. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Biltmore Forest is the second-wealthiest town in North Carolina by per capita ...

* Clyde * Fairview * Laurel Park * Maggie Valley * Mars Hill * Mountain Home * Valley Hill * West Canton

Places with less than 1,000 inhabitants

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

* Marshall * Montreat * Rosman * Saluda (partial)

Unincorporated places

* Arden * Barnardsville *

Bat Cave The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal ...

* Breakaway * Candler * Chesnut Hill * Gerton * Joe *

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

* Oteen * Petersburg * Pisgah Forest * Ridgecrest *

Skyland ''Skyland'' (full French title: "Skyland, Le Nouveau Monde", or "Skyland, The New World"), is a CGI animated series developed in France in partnership with Canada and Luxembourg for television channels France 2 in France, Teletoon in Canada, ...

* Trust *

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 369,171 people, 154,290 households, and 103,653 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 91.49%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 5.15%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.37% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.33% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3.15% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $34,921, and the median income for a family was $41,952. Males had a median income of $30,308 versus $23,069 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the MSA was $19,031.

Combined Statistical Area

The Asheville-Brevard Combined Statistical Area is made up of five counties in western North Carolina. The statistical area includes the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Brevard Micropolitan Statistical Area.

References

{{Coord missing, North Carolina Geography of Buncombe County, North Carolina Geography of Haywood County, North Carolina Geography of Henderson County, North Carolina Geography of Madison County, North Carolina Metropolitan areas of North Carolina Western North Carolina