During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses adopted a work-from-home structure in order to stay afloat. While life has returned almost to normal now, plenty of workplaces have kept this structure in place. In fact, 12.7% of full-time employees now work entirely from home, while another 28.2% have a hybrid schedule with some time at home and some time at their employer’s building.
While more and more businesses are embracing work-from-home positions, people who are allowed to work from home may not always have the best environment for doing so. The best work-from-home conditions include low costs, reasonable comfort and a high level of security.
Exactly how easy it is to work remotely may depend on where you live. In order to find out the states that provide the best conditions for working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the share of workers working from home to internet cost and cybersecurity. We also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in the state.
Main Findings
Best States for Remote Work
|
Overall Rank |
State |
Total Score |
Work Environment |
Living Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delaware | 66.15 | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | Utah | 64.45 | 6 | 4 |
| 3 | Maryland | 63.96 | 4 | 17 |
| 4 | Connecticut | 63.09 | 12 | 6 |
| 5 | New Jersey | 62.78 | 5 | 26 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | 62.24 | 1 | 50 |
| 7 | Georgia | 61.90 | 27 | 1 |
| 8 | Arizona | 61.05 | 9 | 5 |
| 9 | Washington | 60.75 | 11 | 19 |
| 10 | Colorado | 60.68 | 10 | 7 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 60.53 | 3 | 38 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 59.47 | 28 | 30 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 58.99 | 19 | 2 |
| 14 | Rhode Island | 58.88 | 38 | 22 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 58.85 | 16 | 25 |
| 16 | Florida | 58.74 | 20 | 10 |
| 17 | Texas | 58.68 | 15 | 3 |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | 57.44 | 7 | 44 |
| 19 | Nevada | 57.17 | 17 | 20 |
| 20 | Ohio | 56.78 | 21 | 29 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 56.78 | 13 | 33 |
| 22 | Oregon | 56.50 | 25 | 32 |
| 23 | Kentucky | 56.31 | 23 | 16 |
| 24 | California | 55.57 | 14 | 37 |
| 25 | New York | 55.32 | 22 | 34 |
| 26 | Virginia | 54.85 | 8 | 46 |
| 27 | Kansas | 54.54 | 34 | 18 |
| 28 | Illinois | 54.29 | 18 | 40 |
| 29 | South Carolina | 54.25 | 36 | 12 |
| 30 | Idaho | 54.21 | 37 | 13 |
| 31 | Wisconsin | 54.06 | 24 | 41 |
| 32 | Indiana | 53.61 | 26 | 24 |
| 33 | Vermont | 53.37 | 44 | 15 |
| 34 | Michigan | 52.95 | 29 | 39 |
| 35 | Maine | 52.94 | 32 | 47 |
| 36 | Alabama | 52.38 | 31 | 14 |
| 37 | Louisiana | 51.44 | 30 | 23 |
| 38 | Missouri | 50.54 | 33 | 36 |
| 39 | Nebraska | 50.40 | 47 | 31 |
| 40 | Oklahoma | 49.06 | 40 | 9 |
| 41 | Wyoming | 48.38 | 48 | 21 |
| 42 | West Virginia | 48.02 | 35 | 35 |
| 43 | South Dakota | 47.75 | 45 | 45 |
| 44 | New Mexico | 47.65 | 41 | 42 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 46.65 | 46 | 51 |
| 46 | Iowa | 45.78 | 39 | 49 |
| 47 | Mississippi | 44.94 | 42 | 8 |
| 48 | Arkansas | 44.78 | 43 | 28 |
| 49 | Montana | 43.49 | 49 | 27 |
| 50 | North Dakota | 41.12 | 51 | 43 |
| 51 | Alaska | 36.85 | 50 | 48 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.
- Highest
- 1. District of Columbia
- 2. Colorado
- 3. Oregon
- 4. Utah
- T-5. Vermont
- T-5. Washington
- Lowest
- 47. West Virginia
- T-48. Alabama
- T-48. Arkansas
- 50. Louisiana
- 51. Mississippi
- Highest
- 1. Mississippi
- 2. Alabama
- 3. Louisiana
- 4. Kentucky
- 5. West Virginia
- Lowest
- 47. Alaska
- 48. North Dakota
- 49. Colorado
- 50. Montana
- 51. Vermont
- Highest
- 1. Massachusetts
- 2. Connecticut
- 3. Washington
- 4. New Jersey
- 5. Hawaii
- Lowest
- 47. Montana
- 48. West Virginia
- 49. Oklahoma
- 50. Arkansas
- 51. Mississippi
- Highest
- 1. New Mexico
- 2. Nebraska
- 3. New Hampshire
- 4. Wisconsin
- 5. Rhode Island
- Lowest
- 47. Texas
- 48. Florida
- 49. District of Columbia
- 50. New York
- 51. California
- Lowest
- 1. North Dakota
- 2. Nebraska
- 3. Washington
- 4. Wyoming
- 5. Idaho
- Highest
- 47. California
- T-48. Rhode Island
- T-48. Massachusetts
- T-48. New Hampshire
- T-48.Hawaii
- Lowest
- 1. Rhode Island
- 2. District of Columbia
- 3. Massachusetts
- 4. Georgia
- T-5. New Hampshire
- T-5. New York
- T-5. Vermont
- Highest
- 45. Virginia
- 46. South Dakota
- 47. Montana
- 48. North Dakota
- 49. Wyoming
Ask the Experts
For more insight on the shift toward working at home, we turned to a panel of experts. Click on the experts below to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What is the work from home outlook for 2023 and beyond?
- Should companies invest more of their resources in establishing a functional work from home alternative for their employees?
- What are the most important advantages and disadvantages in working from home?
- In evaluating the best work from home infrastructure, what are the top 3 indicators?
Ask the Experts
Professor of Law and Director, New Workplace Institute – Suffolk University Law School
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Ph.D. Former Professor of I/O Psychology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Currently Senior Associate with Aon: Assessment Solutions
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Associate Professor of Management & Organizations; Affiliated Faculty, School of Sociology – University of Arizona, Eller College Management
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Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Core Faculty, Psychological Science & Organizational Science; Affiliate Faculty, Public Health Science; Associate Editor, Occupational Health Science – University of North Carolina at Charlotte
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Visiting Professor of Law – Howard University School of Law and Professor of Law (on Leave), College of Law – Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
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Assistant Professor of Management; Director, Integrated Business Cluster – Ohio University
Read More
Methodology
In order to identify the best states for working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, “Work Environment” and “Living Environment.”
We evaluated those dimensions using 12 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best infrastructure.
We then determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Work Environment - Total Points: 60
- Share of Workers Working from Home: Triple Weight (~22.50 Points)
- Share of Potential Telecommuters: Double Weight (~15.00 Points)
Note: Potential telecommuters are considered to be those in occupations classified as conducive to telecommuting: executive, administrative, managerial; professional specialty; technicians and related; sales; and administrative support. - Households’ Internet Access: Double Weight (~15.00 Points)
Note: This composite metric measures both the share of households with a broadband subscription and the share of households with access to broadband speeds greater than 25 Mbps. - Cybersecurity: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
Note: This composite metric measures the number of internet crime victims per capita, the average amount lost as a result of internet crime and the cybersecurity risk index.
Living Environment - Total Points: 40
- Average Retail Price of Electricity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
- Access to Wired Low-priced Internet Plan: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
Note: This metrics refers to low-priced broadband plans and it is a composite metric that includes:- Cable
- DSL
- Fiber
- Internet Cost: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
Note: This metrics refers to the price per Mbps. - Median Square Footage per Average Number of Persons in a Household: Double Weight (~8.42 Points)
- Share of Detached Housing Units: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
- Average Home Square Footage: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
- Share of for Sale Homes with Lot Greater than 1,000 Square Feet: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
- Share of for Sale Homes with Swimming Pool: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Global Workplace Analytics, HighSpeedInternet.com, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Wakefield Research, U.S. Energy Information Administration, BroadbandNow, BroadbandSearch, American Home Shield Corporation and Zillow.
