2026 Compare Cities Education:
Richmond, VA vs Asheville, NC

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Highlights
- Asheville spends 21.5% less per student than Richmond.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 7.7% lower in Asheville than in Richmond. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Asheville had 6.4% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Richmond
 Richmond, VAAsheville, NCUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$12,129$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,373  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$6,886$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio14.41  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock3634573
 Students per Counselor272  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock2.6%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.6%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock93.3%88.9%
 Some College Educ.19.2%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock7.8%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.43.1%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock14.2%9.3%
 Professional Degree3.7%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock2.6%1.5%
Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 5 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 5 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  More

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Reviews for Asheville    117 Reviews

Lived around this city my entire life, and have spent countless hours in every part of it- at one point, Asheville was the place to be, it had a high standard of living,  More

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Scotty · 

Asheville has changed dramatically over the pass twenty years . At one time downtown and the charming family friendly neighborhoods within, reminded me of The Waltons  More

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This city is very deceiving. Small but if you look close you see big liberal city problems in this town. Mainly because it is overwhelming liberal. Far left liberals.  More

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