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    Cities Most Prepared to Work From Home

    Cities Most Prepared to Work From Home

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    By David Heacock

    Since March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused record numbers of Americans to transition to remote work. As COVID cases have surged across the country, recent CDC guidelines suggest that workers should be allowed to work remotely if they can. While many jobs are suitable to a remote work environment, most are not. Using data from the Census Bureau as well as a recent study by University of Chicago researchers, about 31 percent of U.S. workers are employed in remote-friendly jobs, but this varies substantially on a geographic level. Additionally, not everyone who works in an occupation that can be performed remotely is well positioned to do so. Differences in computer and high-speed internet access, as well as available space in the household, all impact an individual’s preparedness for remote work.

    Working from home typically requires both a computer and a high-speed internet connection. According to data from the Census Bureau, nearly a quarter of U.S. households don’t own a computer and close to 30 percent lack broadband internet, such as cable, fiber optic, or DSL. Not surprisingly, owning a computer and having high-speed internet tend to go hand in hand. At the state level, states where more households own computers are also home to more households with high-speed internet. On a regional level, the South is less prepared to work from home—Southern states tend to have lower rates of home computer ownership and fewer households with broadband internet.

    View of U.S. map showing computer and broadband access rates, revealing Southern states are least prepared to work from home.

    In addition to having the necessary hardware and internet access, being able to create a clear boundary between your home life and work life can make all the difference when working from home. Having a suitable home workspace is associated with increased telework satisfaction and self-reported productivity. Workers with a spare bedroom at home will find it easier to create a dedicated workspace than those whose only option is a shared living area, such as the kitchen or dining room table. For example, while the San Francisco metropolitan area is home to a disproportionate number of laptop workers with high-speed internet access, a majority of these workers don’t have extra space for a home office, making full-time remote work more challenging in the Bay Area than in areas with more affordable housing.

    To find the most prepared places in the U.S. to work from home, researchers at Filterbuy analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the University of Chicago. They created a composite telework preparedness score based on the following factors:

    At the state level, many of the most-prepared states to work from home are on the East Coast. The two states flanking Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, rank the highest in the country according to the composite score. Over one-third of jobs in each of these states can be performed from home, and a large proportion of households in both states have computers and high-speed internet access. The South tends to be less prepared to work from home. Arkansas ranks the lowest in the country according to its composite score. Just 26 percent of jobs in Arkansas can be performed from home, while less than two-thirds of Arkansas households own computers. Only 56 percent of Arkansas households have high-speed internet.

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    View of U.S. map ranking states by work-from-home readiness, with Maryland and Virginia scoring highest.

    To find the metropolitan areas in the U.S. most prepared to work from home, researchers at Filterbuy ranked metro areas according to their composite score. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 people were included in the analysis. Additionally, metro areas were grouped into the following cohorts based on population size:

    Here are the metros most prepared to work from home.

    View of U.S. small and midsize metros ranked by remote work readiness, led by Fort Collins and Barnstable Town.

    Large Metros Most Prepared to Work From Home

    View of Kansas City skyline at dusk showcasing the city’s growing readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    15. Kansas City, MO-KS

    "View of Pittsburgh skyline and Clemente Bridge showing the city’s strong readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    14. Pittsburgh, PA

    View of Seattle skyline with Space Needle showcasing the city’s top-tier readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    13. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

    View of Salt Lake City skyline backed by Wasatch Mountains showing strong readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    12. Salt Lake City, UT

    View of Tampa skyline and illuminated bridge showcasing the city’s strong remote work readiness.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    11. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

    View of Columbus skyline from Scioto Mile highlighting the city’s strong readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    10. Columbus, OH

    View of Philadelphia skyline at sunset showing the city’s high readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    9. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

    View of Charlotte skyline from Marshall Park highlighting strong readiness for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    8. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

    View of Richmond skyline at dusk highlighting the city’s strong work-from-home readiness.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    7. Richmond, VA

    View of Baltimore skyline at sunset reflecting its status as a top work-from-home ready city.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    6. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

    "View of downtown Denver lit up at dusk, highlighting its status as a top remote work-ready city.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    5. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

    View of downtown Minneapolis at sunset, showcasing its remote work readiness and digital infrastructure.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    4. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

    "View of Washington, D.C.’s Jefferson Memorial at sunrise, highlighting a city well-equipped for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

    View of Atlanta skyline at dusk with light trails, showcasing a top city prepared for remote work.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

    "View of Raleigh skyline at sunset, representing one of the top cities most prepared to work from home.

    Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

    1. Raleigh-Cary, NC

    Detailed Findings & Methodology

    The Raleigh metro area ranks as the most prepared large metro to work from home. Nearly 36 percent of Raleigh workers are employed in remote-friendly jobs, over 5 percentage points higher than the national level. A large proportion of Raleigh households have computers and high-speed internet, and 66 percent have at least one spare bedroom, meaning most households have space for a home office. Other large metros that are most prepared to work from home rank highly in all or most of the composite score factors.

    The small and midsize metros that are most prepared to work from home are scattered across the country, with many of these metros on the East Coast or in the Midwest and West. These metros have a higher-than-average number of workers in remote-friendly jobs and tend to have large percentages of households that have computers and broadband internet. While 60 percent of households in the U.S.have a spare bedroom, closer to 70 percent or more of households in some of the small and midsize metros most prepared to work from home have spare bedrooms that could be used as home offices.

    To find the metros in the U.S. most prepared to work from home, researchers at Filterbuy analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and 2019 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (ACS PUMS) and a novel dataset from a recent study on remote-friendly occupations. The researchers created a composite score based on the following factors:

    Metro areas were ranked according to their composite score. Additionally, metros were grouped into the following cohorts based on population size: