Many businesses adopted a work-from-home structure during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to stay afloat, and plenty of workplaces have kept this structure in place. In fact, between October 2023 and January 2024, over 21% of workers able to work from home did so for five or more days a week, while over 67% did so at least one day.
While many businesses have embraced 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, a high level of security and a lack of distractions.
Exactly how easy it is to work remotely may depend on where you live. In order to identify 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 each state.
Cassandra Happe, WalletHub Analyst
Main Findings
Best States for Remote Work
Overall Rank |
State |
Total Score |
Work Environment Rank |
Living Environment Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New Jersey | 64.76 | 2 | 13 |
2 | Utah | 64.47 | 10 | 1 |
3 | Delaware | 64.25 | 5 | 4 |
4 | Maryland | 63.59 | 3 | 10 |
5 | District of Columbia | 62.87 | 1 | 51 |
6 | Connecticut | 61.66 | 7 | 8 |
7 | Washington | 61.16 | 9 | 5 |
8 | Pennsylvania | 60.38 | 6 | 20 |
9 | Massachusetts | 58.67 | 4 | 41 |
10 | North Carolina | 57.62 | 14 | 17 |
11 | Colorado | 57.46 | 28 | 2 |
12 | Virginia | 57.13 | 12 | 25 |
13 | New Hampshire | 57.08 | 11 | 27 |
14 | Rhode Island | 57.07 | 8 | 29 |
15 | Texas | 57.00 | 27 | 3 |
16 | Tennessee | 56.61 | 25 | 7 |
17 | Florida | 55.89 | 26 | 9 |
18 | Arizona | 55.70 | 19 | 19 |
19 | Minnesota | 55.28 | 16 | 26 |
20 | Oregon | 55.19 | 22 | 21 |
21 | Kentucky | 55.08 | 24 | 16 |
22 | Nevada | 55.06 | 21 | 24 |
23 | Georgia | 54.54 | 31 | 11 |
24 | Illinois | 53.57 | 18 | 34 |
25 | Michigan | 53.41 | 17 | 36 |
26 | Ohio | 53.04 | 13 | 45 |
27 | Indiana | 52.56 | 32 | 22 |
28 | South Carolina | 52.22 | 36 | 12 |
29 | California | 51.48 | 23 | 42 |
30 | New York | 51.31 | 15 | 48 |
31 | Wisconsin | 51.00 | 20 | 43 |
32 | Hawaii | 50.47 | 29 | 37 |
33 | Nebraska | 50.40 | 37 | 23 |
34 | Kansas | 49.94 | 35 | 28 |
35 | Alabama | 49.75 | 39 | 15 |
36 | Louisiana | 49.21 | 34 | 33 |
37 | Vermont | 48.10 | 43 | 18 |
38 | Missouri | 47.17 | 38 | 38 |
39 | New Mexico | 46.76 | 41 | 30 |
40 | Iowa | 45.75 | 33 | 49 |
41 | Idaho | 45.52 | 42 | 40 |
42 | North Dakota | 45.44 | 49 | 6 |
43 | Maine | 45.26 | 30 | 50 |
44 | West Virginia | 44.89 | 40 | 44 |
45 | Mississippi | 44.84 | 48 | 14 |
46 | Oklahoma | 44.04 | 45 | 31 |
47 | South Dakota | 43.90 | 44 | 39 |
48 | Wyoming | 42.20 | 47 | 32 |
49 | Arkansas | 40.97 | 46 | 46 |
50 | Montana | 37.47 | 50 | 35 |
51 | Alaska | 34.49 | 51 | 47 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that category.
- Highest
- 1. District of Columbia
- 2. Colorado
- 3. Washington
- 4. Oregon
- 5. Maryland
- Lowest
- T-47. Alabama
- T-47. Arkansas
- 49. North Dakota
- 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. District of Columbia
- 4. Washington
- 5. New Jersey
- Lowest
- 47. Montana
- 48. West Virginia
- 49. Oklahoma
- 50. Arkansas
- 51. Mississippi
- Highest
- 1. Nebraska
- 2. Iowa
- 3. New Mexico
- 4. Kentucky
- 5. Wisconsin
- Lowest
- 47. Alabama
- 48. Florida
- 49. Nevada
- 50. New York
- 51. California
- Lowest
- 1. North Dakota
- 2. Utah
- 3. Washington
- 4. Nebraska
- 5. Louisiana
- Highest
- 47. Maine
- 48. Massachusetts
- 49. California
- T-50. Rhode Island
- T-50. Hawaii
- Lowest
- 1. Hawaii
- 2. New Jersey
- T-3. Delaware
- T-3. Massachusetts
- 5. Maryland
- Highest
- 46. Arkansas
- 47. Maine
- 48. Idaho
- 49. Wyoming
- 50. Montana
In-Depth Look at the Best States for Working From Home
New Jersey
New Jersey is the best state for working from home, with some of the cheapest internet prices in the country and very high access to broadband internet. Solid internet is essential for working from home. Garden State residents also are above average at staying safe when it comes to cybersecurity, so they’re less likely to have their work compromised.
Around 13% of New Jersey’s workforce currently does work from home, but over 96% of the workforce has the potential to telecommute, meaning that their jobs could be conducted remotely.
Utah
Utah is the second-best state for working remotely, and it has some of the lowest electricity prices in the country, which plays a big part in minimizing the cost of staying home all day. It also has reasonable internet costs, and the sixth-highest share of households with broadband internet.
One place where Utah stands out that many people probably don’t think about is home square footage. Utah has the biggest homes in the country, at an average of 2,800 square feet. This helps prevent people from feeling cooped up while they are working from home.
Around 14% of Utah’s workforce currently works from home, but over 95% could do their jobs from home in the future.
Delaware
Delaware is the third-best state for working from home, with over 11% of the workforce currently doing so and nearly 97% having the potential to.
Delaware has the third-lowest internet cost in the U.S., and the 8th highest broadband-internet access. For people who do have internet, nearly 97% have access to internet speeds over 25 mbps, which should provide a smooth work-from-home experience in most cases.
The First State also has the fifth-highest average home square footages in the country, at 2,277 square feet. Homes aren’t particularly crowded, either. The median amount of square footage per person is around 911 square feet.
Ask the Experts
For more insight on the shift toward working at home, we turned to a panel of experts. Click on the experts' profiles below to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What is the work from home outlook for 2024 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?
- Does working from home affect employee engagement in any way, if any?
Ask the Experts
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 (~3.81 Points)
- Access to Wired Low-priced Internet Plan: Full Weight (~3.81 Points)
Note: This metrics refers to low-priced broadband plans and it is a composite metric that includes:- Cable
- DSL
- Fiber
- Internet Cost: Triple Weight (~11.43 Points)
Note: This metrics refers to the price per Mbps. - Median Square Footage per Average Number of Persons in a Household: Double Weight (~7.62 Points)
- Share of Detached Housing Units: Full Weight (~3.81 Points)
- Average Home Square Footage: Full Weight (~3.81 Points)
- Share of for Sale Homes with Lot Greater than 1,000 Square Feet: Half Weight (~1.90 Points)
- Share of for Sale Homes with Swimming Pool: Full Weight (~3.81 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of March 18, 2024 from U.S. Census Bureau, Global Workplace Analytics, HighSpeedInternet.com, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Wakefield Research, U.S. Energy Information Administration, BroadbandNow, Allconnect, American Home Shield Corporation and Zillow.
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