AVL Digital Nomads is the community for Asheville’s remote and independent professionals. Because “networking” shouldn’t feel like punishment.
AVL Digital Nomads is built around one simple idea: the best things that happened at the office had nothing to do with the office.
We run 12+ events every month, from energizing socials to quiet book clubs, startup mixers to community service days. Every event is dreamed up and hosted by our own nomads, which means nothing feels forced and everything feels like it was made for you. Because it was.
The flagship. High energy, new faces, and the kind of conversations that turn strangers into regulars.
A little more dressed up. A lot more fun than it sounds.
Because someone at this table is already using AI to do your job better. Come find out who.
Real talk from people doing interesting things. Collaborative learning at its best.
We show up for Asheville the way Asheville shows up for us.
Quieter. Smaller. Equally worth your Tuesday afternoon.
1,000+ nomads. One very active Slack workspace.
Think of it as the world’s most useful group chat, if your group happens to include designers, developers, consultants, executives, and at least three people who know the best happy hour in every neighborhood in Asheville.
The cutting edge, daily
Opportunities flow both ways
Need a referral? Someone’s got one
Going somewhere? Ask first
Asheville has opinions. So do we
Spontaneous plans welcome here
New here? Start here
Never miss what’s next
Because nomads contain multitudes
Part watercooler. Part marketplace. Part “does anyone know a good accountant in West Asheville?”
Slack access comes with Meetup membership. Join us →
Spoiler: it’s not just people in hoodies staring at laptops.
AVL Digital Nomads draws from one of the most diverse and accomplished professional pools in the region. We’re talking career breadth that would make a traditional networking event genuinely jealous.
📍 81% own their home or hold long-term leases in the region These are not people passing through.
💰 Earning 2–3x the regional median income And spending a healthy chunk of it right here in Asheville.
🏠 93% stay in Asheville after a job change Location independent. Asheville dependent.
If AVL Digital Nomads were a company, we’d be the third largest employer in Western North Carolina.
We’re not a company. We’re something better.
5,000 remote professionals didn’t just choose to work differently. They chose Asheville.
That choice has consequences, good ones. Location-independent professionals earning two to three times the regional median income don’t just live here. They spend here, invest here, start businesses here, and stick around when their job changes. Because their job was never why they came.
AVL Digital Nomads nomads generate an estimated $400M in annual employment income for the Asheville region. That money flows into local restaurants, retailers, contractors, and service providers, creating a ripple effect that reaches well beyond the remote work community itself.
The economic returns are real.
The multiplier effect is significant.
Unlike traditional talent attraction strategies that depend on local job creation, remote professionals choose Asheville for quality of life and stay for the community. 93% of ADN nomads remain in the area after a job change. That’s not a statistic. That’s a commitment.
A high concentration of skilled, entrepreneurially minded professionals in one place creates something traditional economic development can’t manufacture: organic startup energy. ADN actively supports nomads looking to build something, connecting them to local resources, programming, and each other.
Asheville isn’t the first city to discover the power of remote worker communities. Tulsa Remote has relocated 3,500+ remote workers and delivered over $622M to its local economy. Programs like Ascend WV, Choose Topeka, and Remote Shoals have followed.
The difference? Asheville already has 5,000 and doesn’t pay people to move. And ADN is already here.
Join AVL Digital Nomads on Meetup, it’s free and it begins yoru journey. You’ll have access to all the upcoming events and Slack chat discussions.
AVL Digital Nomads is a proud founding chapter of Thrive Remotely.
Additional city chapters include: CLT Digital Nomads (Charlotte, NC); ILM Digital Nomads (Wilmington, NC); Triangle Remote Workers & Digital Nomads (Raleigh/Durham, NC); and Upstate Digital Nomads (Greenville, SC)
Thrive Remotely also published a weekly global newsletter, “Enabling Professionals and Organizations to Fully Realize the Power of Flexible Work!”
