Home >> Daily Dose >> The Best and Worst Cities for Working Remotely
Print This Post Print This Post

The Best and Worst Cities for Working Remotely

woman workingAs work-from-home positions become mainstream, more workers are looking for cities that provide resources like job availability, adequate internet accessibility, home offices, and other tools necessary to thrive in our new remote reality.

Since this past June, “42% of the U.S. labor force was working from home.” This a huge leap from the 8.2% of Americans who worked from home before the coronavirus swept across the States in February of 2020.

LawnStarter has broken down a list of the best and worst cities for telecommuters. LawnStarter analyzed 150 U.S. cities of varying sizes and gave them an overall score based on remote job opportunities, earning potential, work environment, connectivity and costs.  This is likely to change migration patterns within the U.S. for years to come, since the work-from-home trend is likely going to outlast the pandemic.

Here are the top ten best places for those working from home:

  1. McKinney, TX
  2. Frisco, TX
  3. Plano, TX
  4. Irving, TX
  5. Garland, TX
  6. Yonkers, NY
  7. Austin, TX
  8. Fort Worth, TX
  9. Dallas, TX
  10.  Orlando, FL

These are the cities with the lowest overall scores for remote-friendly work:

  1. Honolulu, HI
  2. Moreno Valley, CA
  3. Bakersfield, CA
  4. Anchorage, AK
  5. Lexington, KY
  6. Ontario, CA
  7. Elk Grove, CA
  8. San Bernardino, CA
  9. Oxnard, CA
  10. Boston, MA

Texas is in the lead as having the most cities that are well-suited for remote work. Suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area were found to be the most highly ranked cities on the list. McKinney, Texas had the highest overall score and Frisco, Texas was found to have the most home office and coworking space and the highest average internet speed, followed by McKinney.

Yonkers, New York had the most remote job opportunities while Montgomery, Alabama had the lowest home office rent prices. Brownsville, Texas had the lowest cost of living, making it yet another Texas city that might draw in more of the remote work crowd.

California, which had some of the lowest ranked cities, received such low scores because of its high cost of living. San Francisco and Fremont, California were found to have the highest and second-highest cost of living respectively. San Francisco and New York were the cities with the highest home office rent. Honolulu, Hawaii; Lubbock, Texas and Bakersfield, California had the fewest remote job opportunities.

Mid-sized cities and suburbs generally ranked highest as the best cities for telecommuters.

About Author: Cristin Espinosa

Cristin Espinosa is a reporter for DS News and MReport. She graduated from Southern Methodist University where she worked as an editor and later as a digital media producer for The Daily Campus. She has a broadcast background as well, serving as a producer for SMU-TV. She wrote for the food section during her fellowship at The Dallas Morning News and has also contributed to Advocate Magazine and The Dallas Observer.
x

Check Also

Survey: Homeownership Remains Elusive for Baby Boomer Renters

A recent look into housing affordability by NeighborWorks America has found that three in five long-term baby boomer renters feel homeownership remains unattainable.