Asheville Ranks Third on Southern Living's 2026 Best Cities List

Southern Living readers have again placed Asheville near the top of the South, voting the mountain city third on the magazine's 2026 "South's Best Cities" list, behind only Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

The reader-voted ranking describes Asheville as "an artsy mountain town with a penchant for an ice-cold beer, farm-to-table plate, and afternoon hike," a phrase that doubles as a fairly accurate summary of any given Saturday on Lexington Avenue. In outpolling the rest of the South's best-known destinations, Asheville beat out Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Orlando.

Southern Living's entry for Asheville addresses Hurricane Helene directly. "Despite the widespread damage from Hurricane Helene in 2024, the city has bounced back, welcoming visitors with all the same energy that it has ever had," the magazine writes. That framing matters: Helene's September 2024 flooding caused widespread destruction across western North Carolina, and Asheville's continued presence near the top of major tourism lists reflects both the city's recovery momentum and its enduring appeal to outside visitors.

For those unfamiliar with what draws people here, Southern Living points to the Biltmore as a starting point, calling it "a bucket-list experience," while noting that gallery hopping in the River Arts District, lunch at a new-school fish camp, and drinks at one of the city's newer cocktail bars are "just as important." The magazine labels Asheville "Beer City USA" in its entry, a nod to the craft brewing culture that has defined the city's identity for more than a decade.

The 2026 placement extends a consistent pattern in Southern Living's annual rankings. Asheville held the third spot in 2023, slipped to fifth in 2024, climbed back to third in 2025, and has now matched that position again in 2026. The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce also tracks a broader portfolio of national recognition: USA Today placed Asheville fourth on its 2026 list of best U.S. mountain towns to live in year-round, while the River Arts District was named the number one best arts district in the country by Islands.com. U.S. News and World Report separately ranks Asheville 48th on its list of best places to live nationwide.

The consistency of these rankings, particularly in the two years since Helene, underscores what local tourism and business advocates have argued throughout the recovery: that Asheville's identity as a destination for food, art, outdoor recreation, and craft brewing remained intact even as the city rebuilt.