These Are the Best And Worst States For Remote Work
Today, workers are continuing to take advantage of remote work opportunities.
What makes an area a good spot for remote work? A recent WalletHub study weighed a variety of factors — including internet costs, cybersecurity, electricity bills, current share of remote workers, and other metrics — to assign a rating to each state and the District of Columbia.
Whether you’re thinking about relocating to another state or you want to know how viable working from home might be where you live, here are the best and worst states for remote work!
The 10 Best States for Remote Work
1. New Jersey
Total score: 66.75
Work environment rank: 5
Living environment rank: 11
2. Washington, D.C.
Total score: 64.29
Work environment rank: 1
Living environment rank: 50
3. Delaware
Total score: 64.03
Work environment rank: 2
Living environment rank: 38
4. Connecticut
Total score: 62.18
Work environment rank: 12
Living environment rank: 24
5. Massachusetts
Total score: 61.87
Work environment rank: 3
Living environment rank: 44
6. Utah
Total score: 61.87
Work environment rank: 6
Living environment rank: 27
7. Texas
Total score: 61.59
Work environment rank: 15
Living environment rank: 1
8. Washington
Total score: 61.57
Work environment rank: 11
Living environment rank: 19
9. Maryland
Total score: 61.48
Work environment rank: 4
Living environment rank: 41
10. New York
Total score: 61.11
Work environment rank: 22
Living environment rank: 5
The 10 Worst States for Remote Work
1. Alaska
Total score: 34.74
Work environment rank: 50
Living environment rank: 49
2. Mississippi
Total score: 43.79
Work environment rank: 42
Living environment rank: 13
3. Montana
Total score: 45.54
Work environment rank: 49
Living environment rank: 30
4. North Dakota
Total score:
Work environment rank:
Living environment rank:
5. Arkansas
Total score: 46.75
Work environment rank: 43
Living environment rank: 17
6. Oklahoma
Total score: 47.15
Work environment rank: 40
Living environment rank: 39
7. Wyoming
Total score: 47.45
Work environment rank: 48
Living environment rank: 42
8. Hawaii
Total score: 47.87
Work environment rank: 46
Living environment rank: 51
9. New Mexico
Total score: 49.14
Work environment rank: 41
Living environment rank: 35
10. West Virginia
Total score: 49.43
Work environment rank: 35
Living environment rank: 37
What Makes the Best State for Remote Work?
When determining the best state for remote work, there are a variety of factors that come into play. WalletHub sorted these factors two distinct categories — work environment and living environment.
Some of the most important factors affecting work environment include:
- The share of workers working from home
- The share of potential telecommuters
- The households’ internet access
- Quality of cybersecurity
The biggest factors affecting living environment, on the other hand, include:
- The average cost of electricity
- The average cost of internet
- Access to a low-priced internet plan
- The median square footage per average number of people in household
- The share of detached housing units
- The average home square footage
- The share of for-sale homes at over 1,000 square feet
- … and others
What State Has the Most Remote Jobs?
The quality of remote jobs is one thing, but the availability of those jobs is another issue to consider. Per a FlexJobs study, here are the top 10 states with the most remote jobs:
- Rhode Island
- Washington, D.C.
- Delaware
- North Dakota
- Maine
- Vermont
- South Dakota
- New Hampshire
- West Virginia
- Nebraska
Where Are Remote Workers Moving To?
According to recent census data, more and more people are migrating to the South and the West regions of the U.S.
While the data is too broad to narrow down to remote workers, specifically, the belief is that many remote workers are moving from large cities into more smaller cities and more suburban areas.
Will Remote Work Be the New Normal?
Remote work reached an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to the national stay-at-home orders.
While virus cases have declined and the majority of businesses have returned to office work, we can expect remote jobs to stay higher than pre-pandemic numbers going forward. Projections show remote jobs making up 25% of all professional jobs by the end of 2023.
