AVL Digital Nomads turns five this June. What started as a hunch about an overlooked population has become one of the most consequential economic stories in Western North Carolina.
There is a parallel economy running inside Asheville’s coffee shops, coworking spaces, and kitchen tables. Software engineers on calls with clients in San Francisco. Consultants billing companies in New York. Fractional executives managing teams they’ve never met in person. These workers live here, spend here, and raise families here, but their income comes from somewhere else entirely.
Together, they generate an estimated $400 million in annual employment income for the region. And for five years, a volunteer-run community called AVL Digital Nomads has been quietly organizing them.
“If AVL Digital Nomads were a company, it would be the third largest employer in Western North Carolina.”
Ric Pratte, ADN Founder
The group, which calls its members “nomads”, celebrates its fifth birthday this month with a party at Wedge Brewing on Foundy St., the same spot where it all began. What started as a few remote workers deciding to leave their apartments and talk to humans has grown into the largest in-person remote work community in the United States.
The typical ADN member is not a twenty-something backpacker hopping between Airbnbs. The average member is 48 years old. Eighty-one percent own their home or hold long-term leases. And when they change jobs, which remote workers inevitably do, 93% of them stay in Asheville. They aren’t passing through. They’re planting roots.
Because location-independent professionals tend to earn two to three times the local median income, their concentration has an outsized effect on demand for local goods and services – hospitality, retail, restaurants, real estate. ADN, by connecting and retaining that population, functions as an economic multiplier for a city that has long strategized to grow wages and diversify economic opportunity.
“What began as a hunch on a growing and untapped talent pool has become one of the region’s most compelling economic development success stories.”
Clark Duncan, Senior Vice President for Economic Development at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and EDC
The comparison point that keeps coming up in national research is Tulsa Remote, a program funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation that paid over 3,500 remote workers $10,000 each to relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The economic returns were substantial: more than $622 million delivered to the local economy, a 4-to-1 benefit-cost ratio for existing residents. Asheville has something Tulsa had to build from scratch: a thriving, organic community already in place. ADN just hasn’t told that story loudly enough yet.
The group runs entirely from the ground up, no top-down mandate, no boardroom committee. Thirty volunteer organizers drove 155 events in 2025 alone, spanning pure socials, startup meetups, collaborative workshops, and volunteer days. An active Slack community of 1,000+ nomads hums with channels ranging from AI to local music to a job board. The warmth is intentional, and by most accounts, it shows.
The next chapter is about visibility. ADN’s leadership sees a clear opportunity: a national PR campaign positioning Asheville as a premier hub for remote professionals, a digital onboarding toolkit for newcomers, and an annual impact report to make the economic case in concrete terms. The talent is already here. The community is already built. The missing piece is telling the world it exists.
The birthday celebration is open to the public. AVL Digital Nomads is celebrating at Wedge Brewing at Foundation St. Food truck on site. Name tags provided. Judgment optional.
Event Details
Date: Friday, June 5, 2026 – 6:00
Location: Wedge Brewing at Foundation
5 Foundy Street, Asheville, NC
Event listing on Meetup
Read the background story at avldigitalnomads.org!
Media Contact
Ric Pratte
Founder, AVL Digital Nomads
ric@thriveremotely.io
