Study Shares Best Places to Work from Home in the US
Photo: iStock/Morsa Images
During the peak of Covid-19, a record number of people abandoned the office in exchange for remote work. Mothers and fathers soon added "find and keep remote job" to their newborn checklists.
But, as restrictions have gradually eased and remote opportunities transitioned to hybrid or returned to in-office, the Google searches for "best places to work from home" have skyrocketed.
What are the best places to work from home in the US?
While many people still do the remote or hybrid thing (from 5.7% in 2019 to 17.9% in 2021), the U.S. Census Bureau reports the numbers have diminished — thanks to companies rolling back remote protocol and pushing for in-person attendance.
Currently, the numbers reflect just 12.1% of fully remote employees in the United States, while 27.8% are hybrid, and a whopping 60% of employees returned to full-time, in-person roles, according to WFH Research.
A new report from WalletHub also suggests some places in the U.S. are more receptive to remote work than others. Each earned high scores from real remote workers thanks to internet speed, quality of life, plentiful coffee shops and other contributing factors like a manageable cost of living.
So, if you need to work from home (hello, expensive childcare), it's worth checking out the states more willing to offer the accommodations.
The best US states for working from home
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Delaware
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Utah
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Maryland
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Connecticut
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New Jersey
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District of Columbia
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Georgia
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Arizona
- Washington
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Colorado
Why the findings were so surprising
When the pandemic hit, some people found their once in-person roles transitioned to remote, and now they can't imagine looking back. Such is the case for Courtney Martin, a technical writer and editor, who lives in the District of Columbia.
The city is known for easy, reliable access to high-speed internet in just about every corner. So are other big city options like San Francisco, but the cost of living there and in much of California in general, is far too high.
"Working from home affords a good work/life balance," says Martin. "D.C. proper has heavy morning and evening rush hour traffic, so working from home allows me to avoid that."
Such is the case with Matthew MacNish, a Network Operations Engineer, living near Atlanta, Georgia, who loves working from home due to the low cost of real estate and internet access, as well as avoiding traffic and heat in the summer. The winter months are also mild.
"My team has people working from home all over the country and they are very supportive," MacNish says of her remote work-friendly location. Living and working remotely has overall been a positive experience for her.
"I do occasionally miss the social aspect of working in a building with other people, but overall, the tradeoff is worth it."
While the world remains in a sort of Covid-19 bubble, remote positions may largely become a thing of the past. But the good news is, if you're determined to work from home in your pajamas indefinitely, some states are keeping up with that demand., so good luck!
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