As flexible work models demonstrate their staying power, the office environment has been taking on a more collaborative space role, whereas focused work tends to happen more outside of it (whether at home or in a third space). This increase in flexibility has proven to be beneficial to both employees — for a much-needed boost in work/life balance — as well as employers, who welcome the reduction in operating costs.
And, while work flexibility continues to be explored in several forms, recent surveys show that hybrid work is currently more prevalent than employees who are fully remote or operating in gig work partnerships. With that in mind, we looked at data on more than 70 U.S. cities and compared them across several relevant indicators — such as hybrid jobs on the local employment market, the coworking scene, broadband coverage, housing affordability, and quality of life — in order to identify and rank the best U.S. cities for remote workers and hybrid jobs.
Overview highlights:
- Most of the best 20 contenders were mid-sized cities with populations of less than 500,000
- More than half of the cities in the top 20 are located in the Southern U.S. (12 entries)
- The five Midwestern U.S. cities on the list accounted for the second-biggest regional representation.
- Only two Western U.S. cities and one Northeastern U.S. entry made the cut in the top 20.
Below, we delve into the advantages each of the best 20 cities for hybrid work brings to the table, as well as how each of them has fared during the transformational past few years.
1 Atlanta
- Total score: 77.55 points
- Best-scoring indicators: hybrid job listings, coworking space density
A survey conducted by the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Georgia Commute Options program found that local workers preferred an average of 3.6 remote days per week, citing quality-of-life improvements and commute times as their main reasons for the preference.
However, most actually worked remotely for three days during an average week — a decrease from the average of 3.3 days in October 2021 and 3.9 days in April 2021, according to the study. Despite this dip in weekly remote work time, we found that the Atlanta job market had the most hybrid job listings (771 per 100,000 residents).
What’s more, those merely looking to work much closer to home here than in the central office benefit from one of the most abundant coworking scenes in the country. In fact, Atlanta boasted the highest coworking density among the cities we surveyed with 22 coworking spaces per 100,000 residents. And, with coworking space in Atlanta going for a median price of $100 per month, it’s also among the most affordable on our list.
Thus, in order to retain and recruit talent, companies are likely to keep hybrid work schedules in place and adapt their office footprint accordingly. One recent example is global technology communications company Cisco. Following years of a strictly suburban presence, Cisco recently opened a new collaboration center in midtown Atlanta that was designed around the hybrid work concept — a sustainably built, hyperconnected hub of hot desks and collaboration spaces where the company expects to hire 700 employees in the next five years.
2 St. Louis
- Total score: 72.30 points
- Best-scoring indicators: median coworking space cost, quality of life
St. Louis ranked as the second-best U.S. city for remote workers and hybrid jobs on our list. Notably, the city earned the highest score for quality of life on our composite index. Specifically, St. Louis was home to the highest density of healthcare establishments (the highest number of establishments per 100,000 residents) and also stood out as one of the most abundant cultural and entertainment scenes with nearly 750 recreational establishments per 100,000 residents.
Furthermore, coworking space in Missouri’s second-largest city was one the most accessible options among the cities we compared: With a median cost of roughly $93 per month, coworking space in St. Louis boasted some of the most affordable rates in the top 20, roughly on par with Irving, Texas; Louisville, Ky.; and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Clearly, developers here have been embracing the demand for a new kind of live-work-play experience, and recent projects show a different palette of amenities taking hold. For instance, CRG’s Chapter at The Streets apartment community includes remote work amenities such as laptop bars; conference rooms equipped with large, plug-and-play TV displays; coworking space; and Zoom rooms, as well as high-speed wireless connectivity with coverage in all common areas and outdoor recreation spaces.
3 Tampa, Fla.
- Total score: 66.68 points
- Best-scoring indicators: hybrid job listings, coworking space density
Businesses in Tampa seem to have also embraced the partially remote work model: Tampa had the third-most hybrid job listings per 100,000 residents, behind Pittsburgh and Atlanta. In fact, employment agency company Kforce (which is headquartered in Tampa) ran several surveys last year that showed a significant majority of the workforce that was interviewed preferred an “office-optional” model of hybrid work.
At the time, Kforce had already announced the transformative relocation of its own headquarters, which would reduce its new footprint in Midtown Tampa to about one-fifth of its former office space in downtown Tampa. The company was actually among the first in the Tampa Bay region to adapt its space to the rising workforce trend by prioritizing flexibility, trust, and technology.
As companies reevaluate the qualities of their work environment, newly developed Tampa office space has become a destination of choice for some of the biggest names in town: Multinational conglomerate Nestle announced it would be relocating its sales operations from downtown Tampa to Midtown West, where it joins Primo Water, one of the largest local public companies. Meanwhile, utility and services company Tampa Electric Co. and Peoples Gas plans to move its corporate headquarters from downtown Tampa to Midtown East by 2025.
Even so, local real estate experts noted that the Tampa central business district was not experiencing large blocks of empty space due to flexible work models. The key, they said, was in economic diversity: In hybrid work, there’s no one-size-fits-all, and solutions tend to be industry-specific. As such, a city like Tampa — which harbors a highly diverse economy — is well-positioned to take on the new work/life balance standard. To that end, one advantage that the city already has is its local coworking scene: Tampa had the fourth-most coworking spaces per 100,000 residents among the 20 best cities for remote workers in our ranking, thus offering both workers and businesses plenty of options to meet the need for an occasional third space.
4 Pittsburgh
- Total score: 66.63 points
- Best-scoring indicators: hybrid job listings, housing cost-to-income ratio
Scoring a very close fourth behind Tampa, Pittsburgh is a city that has also been exploring the diversification of its local economy. Namely, Robotics Row has grown to be home to more than 140 national and international innovative organizations; the city is nurturing its own space innovation district; it ranked among the top cities for representation of women in STEM in the northeastern U.S. region; and it earned a place among the most attractive U.S. metros for Gen Z.
Among its strengths, we also identified that Pittsburgh was one of the most affordable cities of the locations we considered: Housing cost here represented a little more than 20% of the median household income, which placed Pittsburgh third for this indicator, behind Plano, Texas, and Scottsdale, Ariz.
What’s more, the Pittsburgh employment market had the second-most hybrid job listings per 100,000 residents among the cities in this top 20, landing behind Atlanta. With leading institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh prioritizing efficiency in terms of what makes sense for operations and what makes sense for individuals, it’s no surprise to see Pittsburgh ranked high among the top cities for remote workers and hybrid jobs.
5 Cincinnati
- Total score: 65.17 points
- Best-scoring indicators: high-speed internet coverage, average travel time to work
Cincinnati was the fifth-best U.S. city for hybrid workers in our ranking. Last summer, a local survey found that most of the largest companies in the central business district had adopted a hybrid model for their downtown Cincinnati employees, with as much as 70% of the workforce (American Financial) benefitting from the flexibility, with arrangements depending on the requirements of their role within the company, as well as on individual or team preferences and needs.
In Q2 of this year, the number of hybrid job listings per every 100,000 residents here was one of the 10 highest among the cities we compared for this ranking. And, with good digital infrastructure in place, shifting between work modes can be done with little to no disruption. In fact, Cincinnati earned the top score for its high-speed internet coverage of nearly 63%. It was followed by Raleigh, N.C., (about 60%) and Madison, Wis. (58%).
Furthermore, a reduction in the number of daily commuters is sure to have had an effect on local mobility, for which the city ranked quite well: Of the top 20 cities in this ranking, non-remote workers in Cincinnati reported the fourth-shortest commute time — nearly 22 minutes spent getting to work — which ranked closely behind Scottsdale, Ariz.; St. Louis; and Louisville, Ky., (roughly 21 minutes each), as well as Madison, Wis. (19 minutes).
Plus, the side effects of exploring new ways of working in and around Cincinnati have also included a boost in urban renewal. With tens of thousands of square feet in the office-to-residential pipeline — in addition to the more than 2 million square feet of office space that has been converted into multifamily residential properties within the past five years — Cincinnati’s downtown is changing from primarily a business hub to a “lifestyle center” residential, food and entertainment district. This has reportedly not only helped some of the small businesses that used to rely on pre-pandemic office worker foot traffic, but has also attracted new retail, dining, and entertainment businesses to meet the needs and demands of the growing residential population.
6 Minneapolis
- Total score: 61.63 points
- Best-scoring indicators: quality of life, high-speed internet coverage
The sixth-best city for remote workers and hybrid jobs was Minneapolis. At the start of the year, office occupancy in the larger of the Twin Cities was reportedly on the rise, with approximately two-thirds of downtown employees back in the office in some capacity at least once a week — an increase of 56% compared to early 2022, according to the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
Meanwhile, the local office market has been exhibiting the ebb and flow patterns of course correction: While some companies have chosen to downsize or rethink their Minneapolis office space, others have signed leases to relocate or expand in new office space downtown.
The local residential market, however, has shown a steady influx to the suburbs in search of more space. According to the Downtown Council, the rate of population growth in the urban core has slowed from 6% in 2021 to about 1% in 2022, which signals that the central business district needs to evolve beyond its reliance on office workers and expand the residential market, as well as the amenities that go with it.
Fortunately, the city already has a few advantages in this transformation: Minneapolis earned the fourth-best score for quality of life among the top 20 contenders on the list and boasted the fifth-best high-speed internet coverage.
7 Irving, Texas
- Total score: 61.29 points
- Best-scoring indicators: median coworking space price, hybrid job listings
The job market in Irving offered the fifth-most hybrid work listings out of the top 20 entries in this ranking. Notably, companies big and small in the north Texas city have been providing many examples of adapting to today’s less-tethered way of working. For instance, ExxonMobil will be redesigning its Irving headquarters to emphasize a more democratized approach to spaces that seeks to offer the accessibility and transparency that people want more of today. During this process, even C-suite and other traditional spaces — such as the corner office — will be reclaimed for teamwork.
Similarly, HVAC equipment manufacturer Johnson Controls-Hitachi found itself with underutilized space after increasing the flexibility of its workforce. In this case, rather than sell or lease its property near the DFW airport, the company decided to develop a Customer Experience Center and immersive training space for HVAC workers to help combat the increasingly acute shortage of skilled workers in the industry.
Additionally, remote and hybrid work may have also contributed to the wave of headquarters relocations that has been sweeping the country. As a matter of fact, in 2022, corporations reportedly moved headquarters at the highest rate since 2017 — and Texas was one of the most popular destinations. In fact, longtime Illinois company Caterpillar Inc. decided to move its headquarters from Deerfield to Irving and expected most of its employees to follow throughout the next few years.
At the same time, Allstate — one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. — leaned into the majority preference of its workforce for “office-optional” hybrid work; sold its 2-million-square-foot headquarters space; and switched to a broader network of smaller offices in locations dictated by the collaboration needs of employees. That said, the company did keep one of its main U.S. talent centers in Irving, but it nevertheless proposes an interesting example of efficient headquarters dispersal.
For flexible and scattered workforces, companies can also make good use of partnerships in growing coworking markets, where employees can occasionally reconnect with their own company community, as well as cultivate serendipity with other businesses in the shared workspace. In this respect, Irving stood out for having some of the most affordable coworking space in the top 20.
8 Madison, Wis.
- Total score: 60.66 points
- Best-scoring indicators: unemployment rate, average travel time to work, high-speed internet coverage
The Wisconsin economy is not as dominated by “remote-capable” industries as other states are, and it has shown a level of remote and hybrid work adoption that was at or below the national average. Even so, the state capital has earned a place among the 10 best cities for remote workers and hybrid jobs.
Here, a study published earlier this year by the Wisconsin Policy Forum found that, among the most populous counties in the state, remote work was most popular in Dane County, where nearly 25% of workers aged 16 and older worked primarily from home. To that end, data we analyzed on the county’s most populous city did show a few notable advantages working in its favor: Among the cities we compared, Madison residents reported the shortest average travel time to work, and the local economy boasted the lowest unemployment rate — reportedly one of the lowest in the country.
What’s more, remote and hybrid workers in Madison benefit from one of the best degrees of digital connectivity in the country: FCC data showed that Madison had reached a high-speed internet coverage of nearly 57% in 2022 — third-best among the top 20 entries in our ranking. Second to the compatibility of the occupation itself, good-quality internet access is perhaps the most essential element to a successful adoption of the hybrid work model. (This would have been a more difficult challenge for Madison and the surrounding region had it not been for concerted efforts made in recent years to expand broadband access equitably throughout the state.)
9 Raleigh, N.C.
- Total score: 59,48 points
- Best-scoring indicators: high-speed internet coverage, housing cost-to-income ratio
Raleigh, the ninth-best U.S. city for hybrid workers, also brought good digital infrastructure to the table. Specifically, it earned the second-best high-speed internet coverage among the 20 best cities for remote workers in our ranking. With coverage at just above 60%, Raleigh ranked second only to Cincinnati (63%) and ahead of Madison, Wis., (58%) and Austin, Texas (56%).
Another notable advantage that hybrid and remote workers have in Raleigh is housing affordability: The housing cost here represents, on average, roughly 21% of the median household income, which placed Raleigh among the 10 most affordable places to live out of the cities we compared for this ranking. What’s more, on collaboration days when teams gather in the office, workers in Raleigh faced one of the lowest average commute times in the country. More precisely, with an average of nearly 22 minutes spent getting to work, workers in Raleigh clocked the fourth-best commute time among the cities in our top 20, scoring roughly on par with Cincinnati and Richmond, Va., for this metric and placing closely behind Scottsdale, Ariz.
Three years into the pandemic, Raleigh also offers a few interesting examples of how it’s adapting to the new life, work, and play standards of the people. For instance, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance created a grant program that reimbursed downtown businesses up to $15,000 in upfit costs. Namely, it has supported initiatives that emphasized cleanliness, bright street lights, and safety for more people to feel more comfortable coming back into the city more often.
Likewise, the flight to quality and efficient amenitization trends have reportedly been driving strength for high-quality, high-amenity, mixed-use projects that offer a more diversified experience and address more of the day-to-day needs of workers. Clearly, diversifying downtowns to include more residential and amenity space alongside office and coworking can go a long way to revitalizing urban core economies.
10 Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Total score: 59.40 points
- Best-scoring indicators: housing cost-to-income ratio, median coworking space cost
For a partially remote worker who is required to be in the office for part of each week, Scottsdale is one of the best cities to be in. Although its overall point score placed the city 10th on our list, its strongest suit was a highly important factor: Scottsdale boasted the best housing cost-to-income ratio among the cities in the top 20. Specifically, the average housing cost here represented just under 20% of the median household income. Plano, Texas, followed closely behind in second place, while Pittsburgh came in third among the best cities for remote workers and hybrid jobs.
What’s more, for hybrid workers in need of a third space during their out-of-office workdays, the Scottsdale coworking scene offered some of the most affordable coworking space options in the country. Not only that, but with nearly 10 coworking spaces per 100,000 residents, the Valley of the Sun city was also home to the seventh-highest coworking space density among the top 20 cities in our ranking.
While shifts in the workscape have caused some companies to reevaluate their use of office space in Scottsdale, the local real estate market has remained attractive for a variety of industries. For example, Los Angeles-based firm Stockdale Capital Partners recently announced that it would commit more than $20 million to finalizing the conversion of the Ilume Innovation Center to a fully lab-enabled life sciences facility complete with move-in-ready wet lab suites, a fitness center, a 110-person capacity auditorium, and a 1.5-acre rooftop garden.
Moreover, earlier this year, semiconductor supplier Onsemi completed its global headquarters relocation from Phoenix to its new, 170,000-square-foot facility in Scottsdale on Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community land. In this case, Onsemi is reportedly exploring a different kind of flexibility with its 700-strong administrative headquarters staff. While everyone will be working on-site, the working hours will be flexible to each individual’s needs with the emphasis being on the work getting done.
11 Plano, Texas
Total score: 58.40 points
Best-scoring indicators: housing cost-to-income ratio, unemployment
A long-standing popular destination for sprawling corporate headquarters, Plano is an essential element of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. It landed 11th on our list of best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs, marking the second Texas city to make it into the top 20.
The city’s best-scoring indicator was related to livability. With the average housing cost here accounting for 20.2% of the median household income, Plano boasted the second-best housing cost-to-income ratio among the cities in the top 20. In this respect, Plano placed slightly ahead of Pittsburgh, as well as close behind Scottsdale.
With an unemployment rate of just more than 5% — the fifth-lowest unemployment rate among the cities in our top 20 ranking — and a variety of industries represented within the local economy, Plano is considered to be one of the best cities to find a job. Yet, with roughly 252 hybrid job listings per 100,000 residents, Plano placed at the lower end of the top 20 in terms of its abundance of flexible employment options.
12 Austin, Texas
Total score: 58.37 points
Best-scoring indicators: high-speed internet coverage, unemployment
Austin kicked off the year as home to some of the priciest office space in Texas and the wider Southern U.S. Now, with a rapid rate of high-rise construction driving a new Austin skyscraper boom, the city is reportedly expected to also become the tallest in Texas within the next three years — an urban development phase that can be a good gauge of local corporate wealth and world-stage ambition.
While Austin earned third place among the best U.S. metros for the gig economy, the city proper landed 12th among the best for hybrid workers. Interestingly, the city scored around 12th fairly consistently across most of the metrics we compared for this ranking, with a few notable exceptions. First, Austin was home to the fourth-best high-speed internet coverage in the top 20. At 56%, the city placed very close behind Madison, Wis., for this indicator. Next, because the city is home to a well-known and highly valued talent pool that is skilled in a variety of industries, the Texas powerhouse boasted one of the 10 lowest unemployment rates among the cities we compared.
On the lower-scoring end of the scale, the local coworking scene presents relatively good density (roughly seven coworking spaces per 100,000 residents). However, Austin coworking space was some of the priciest among the 20 best cities for remote workers in our ranking.
13 Arlington, Va.
Total score: 58.07 points
Best-scoring indicators: unemployment, housing cost-to-income ratio, hybrid job listings
Arlington placed 13th among the best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs. It was most recently in the spotlight due to Amazon’s official opening of its HQ2 Phase One here, for which the tech company reportedly already hired 8,000 employees locally out of the estimated total of 17,000 HQ2 jobs that the company plans to add throughout the next seven years.
One of the best-scoring employment markets in our ranking, Arlington had the second-lowest unemployment rate among the cities we compared, placing closely behind Madison, Wis. What’s more, among the top 20 cities on the list, Arlington’s job market offered the sixth-most hybrid job listings (an estimated 534 per 100,000 residents).
The capital metro area city also stood out for livability. Specifically, it earned the fourth-best housing cost-to-income ratio — nearly 21% of the median household income, which was roughly on par with Kansas City, Mo.
And, while the local coworking scene had the fifth-highest density of the cities in the top 20 ranking, Arlington coworking space was the least affordable within the group.
14 Charlotte, N.C.
- Total score: 57.14 points
- Best-scoring indicators: unemployment, median coworking space cost
Charlotte had the fourth-lowest unemployment rate among the cities in our top 20 ranking, but that level of employment was not visible in the city’s traditional workspaces. That’s because about half of the office workers in Center City are estimated to be on a remote or hybrid work arrangement — and are expected to remain so for some time.
Notably, new and well-amenitized properties are not facing much of a vacancy challenge. That’s because, in an effort to align the rest of the real estate market with the flight-to-quality trend among businesses and employees, the city is helping to modernize or reposition older and underused structures of all property types in hopes of addressing housing; medical space; retail; culture and entertainment; and any other needs that business districts were not prioritizing as much before.
At the same time, the demand for flexible workspace continues to grow and Charlotte is home to one of the most affordable coworking scenes in the country. As an example, global flexible workspace organization IWG recently announced that it would be opening a new, 20,000-square-foot Regus center at The Ervin, which is a historic landmark building located just minutes from uptown Charlotte.
15 Orlando, Fla.
- Total score: 56.88 points
- Best-scoring indicators: coworking space density, quality of life
Moving down the list to 15th place, Orlando received a mix of high and low scores. For instance, Orlando scored second-best on the quality-of-life index among the 20 best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs, placing close behind St. Louis. In particular, Orlando was home to some of the highest urban densities of recreational, health care, and educational establishments of the cities we compared.
Orlando also earned big points for the abundance of the local flexible workspace scene: With roughly 15 coworking spaces per 100,000 residents, the city ranked second-best for coworking space density among the cities we compared for this study. And, in terms of prices, coworking space in Orlando was among the most affordable in the country with the median monthly coworking cost here ranking roughly on par with Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; and Richmond, Va.
However, the central Florida city earned some of its lowest scores for commute time and housing costs. Specifically, the estimated 26 minutes spent getting to work here represented the longest average commute time among the top 20 cities in this ranking. And, with housing costs in the city accounting for an average of about 31% of the median household income, Orlando also ranked most financially challenging for housing out of all of the top 20 cities on the list.
16 Irvine, Calif.
- Total score: 56.75 points
- Best-scoring indicators: coworking space density, median coworking space cost
Irvine was the only California entry and one of only two Western U.S. region locations to make the list of 20 best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs (the other was Scottsdale, Ariz.). Individual metric scores show that the strongest asset Irvine had in the mix was its offer in terms of a “third space” between the workplace and the home.
With nearly 14 coworking spaces per 100,000 residents, Irvine claimed the third-highest coworking space density among the 20 cities in this ranking. In addition to this relative abundance, Irvine also offered some of the most affordable options as the median monthly coworking cost here ranked second-lowest in the top 20 ranking.
Conversely, Irvine earned some of its lowest scores for housing cost-to-income ratio (second-least affordable, after Orlando); high-speed internet coverage; and travel time to work.
17 Durham, N.C.
- Total score: 56.58 points
- Best-scoring indicators: housing cost-to-income ratio, unemployment, average travel time to work
North Carolina proved to be a strong contender state in this ranking. As a matter of fact, it was the only other state besides Texas to contribute three entries to the top 20. Thus, following very closely behind Irvine in 17th place was Durham — the third North Carolina city to make the cut.
Although the city didn’t earn top scores for any of the individual metrics we compared, its strongest suits did score among the top 10. Namely, Durham placed sixth for housing affordability in a tie with St. Louis and Louisville, Ky. The average housing cost in each of the three cities accounted for about 21% of the median household income.
Similarly, Durham had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate out of the 20 best cities for remote workers in the ranking. And, again, workers commuting in Durham reported the sixth-lowest travel time to work with an average of nearly 22 minutes spent getting from home to the office.
Additionally, although Durham placed 11th for high-speed internet coverage, digital infrastructure might see improvements in the near future. That’s if increased expansion interest by the likes of Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft is any motivation. Not to be outdone, last year, IBM subsidiary Red Hat leased office space in Durham as a “spoke” expansion that complements its headquarters in Raleigh and also positions the company for future growth, while simultaneously leaning into the hybrid work model.
18 Richmond, Va.
- Total score: 55.42 points
- Best-scoring indicators: hybrid job listings, average travel time to work
The remote and hybrid work trends of recent years seem to have been a boon for Richmond in some respects. During 2020 and 2021, Richmond reportedly saw an increase of 36% in the average number of northern Virginians moving in as compared to migration numbers recorded between 2012 and 2019.
To that end, migration data showed that a sizeable portion of northern Virginians choosing Richmond as their new home were young families (aged 25 to 45) with children who were likely taking advantage of work flexibility to settle down in a more affordable housing market in the capital metropolitan area. This growth of in-migration also coincided with a 26% increase in train ridership on the Richmond-Washington, D.C. route since 2019.
Additionally, among the 20 best cities for remote workers in our ranking, the job market in Richmond offered the fourth-most hybrid work opportunities with listings here amounting to roughly 564 hybrid jobs per 100,000 residents. And, while it didn’t rank among the most affordable options in our top 20 in terms of housing, Richmond did place quite well for commute times. More precisely, commuting residents here reported the fourth-best travel time to work with an average of nearly 22 minutes spent getting to the workplace, which ranked Richmond roughly on par with Cincinnati and Raleigh, N.C.
19 Kansas City, Mo.
- Total score: 55.09 points
- Best-scoring indicators: housing cost-to-income ratio, high-speed internet coverage
Kansas City has, quite rightfully, been making the rounds in a multitude of rankings: KCMO recently ranked among the best places to live for Gen Z; the most attractive metropolitan areas for Millennials; one of the best metros for life sciences companies; as well as one of the most promising innovation hubs for startups, just to name a few.
This time, the city’s strongest suits in the ranking of best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs were housing affordability and high-speed internet coverage. To that end, Census data analysis revealed that the average housing cost here represented nearly 21% of the median household income, which placed Kansas City fourth for housing cost-to-income ratio in a tie with Arlington, Va., in our ranking.
Next, high-speed internet coverage of just below 50% earned KCMO the eighth-best score for high-quality broadband availability, which is essential for the success of hybrid work in almost any industry. Not to be outdone, good connectivity has also been marked as an advantage for the surrounding suburban communities. For example, Overland Park, Kan. — just 20 minutes south of the city — has been recognized as one of the best “Zoom towns” in the country with more than 30% of the population working remotely.
20 Louisville, Ky.
- Total score: 54.91 points
- Best-scoring indicators: median coworking space cost, average travel time to work
Louisville rounded out the list of the 20 best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs. It earned some of its best scores for its low cost of coworking spaces, short commute times, digital infrastructure, and housing affordability.
Among the 20 cities that topped the ranking, Louisville, Ky., coworking space offered the lowest rates for flexible workspace. For this metric, the city’s score was tied with Irving, Texas; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and St. Louis. And, with commuters here reporting an average of just less than 21 minutes’ travel time to work, Louisville also tied with St. Louis for the second-shortest commute time in the top 20.
Meanwhile, for housing affordability, Louisville placed sixth in a tie with St. Louis and Durham, N.C. The average housing cost in each of the three cities accounted for more than 21% of the median household income.
Lastly, Louisville was also home to the seventh-best high-speed internet coverage in the top 20. At 51%, the city placed narrowly ahead of Kansas City for this indicator.
Notes On a Hybrid Work Future
Work models are likely to become more fluid as both the workforce and the workplace continue to change and, in turn, shape the way we hire and the role that we will need our spaces and our built environment to play.
That said, having at least partially remote work allows employees to alleviate some of the persistent stress that stems from competing demands of our work and our personal lives, which represents a significant improvement to the quality of the work/life balance. It’s so significant, in fact, that recent survey reports showed that nearly 80% of employees were open to changing jobs if their current work arrangements rolled back flexibility.
In addition to lowering stress, shortening commutes, and increasing the health safety and quality of life for workers, giving people the flexibility to work closer to where they need to be can also have far more wide-reaching benefits. For example, a joint study recently conducted by professional services firm ARUP and global flexible workspace provider IWG looked at total emissions per worker based on transportation, heating, cooling, lighting, and energy use in several large cities. They found that adopting the hybrid work model could help reduce carbon emissions by up to 87% in the U.S.
And, while the work-from-home/hybrid work models have decreased day-to-day transit and commercial activity in some downtowns, they’ve also driven modernizing changes across other sectors. Namely, there’s been better focus spaces in residential units and office properties have repositioned to incorporate more diverse amenities. Finally, cutting-edge coworking spaces and flexible community use areas have also become part of the essential amenities in the design of multifamily properties, as well as hotels and shopping centers.
Methodology
We ranked the best cities for remote workers in hybrid jobs based on eight select indexes. Each city could score between zero and the maximum number of points for each metric, either directly or inversely proportional to its performance in the respective index. Specifically, we ranked cities with populations of at least 200,000 residents, for which data was available regarding all aspects of our analysis:
- We based the number of hybrid job listings per 100,000 residents on data we manually collected in April 2023 from Glassdoor.com. (0 to 20 points, directly proportional)
- For the monthly housing cost as a percentage of household income, we turned to U.S. Census ACS data published in 2021. (0 to 15 points, inversely proportional)
- Information on travel time to work referred to workers aged 16 and older who were not working from home and was based on U.S. Census ACS data published in 2021. (0 to 15 points, inversely proportional)
- We turned to CommercialEdge research for data on coworking spaces per 100,000 residents (0 to 10 points, directly proportional), as well as for the median monthly price for coworking space in each city (0 to 10 points, inversely proportional).
- For the custom composite quality-of-life index, we looked at data from the Census, the U.S. EPA, and the Trust for Public Land and compiled the final score using: the number of recreational establishments per 100,000 residents, healthcare establishments per 100,000 residents, educational establishments per 100,000 residents, park acres per 1,000 residents (TPL data) and air quality. (0 to 15 points, directly proportional)
- We based our high-speed internet coverage information on data published by the FCC in 2022. (0 to 10 points, directly proportional)
- Data on the local unemployment rate was sourced from Census ACS information published in 2021. (0 to 5 points, inversely proportional)
Disclaimer
While every effort was made to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of the information presented herein, the information is provided “as is” and neither CommercialSearch nor CommercialEdge can guarantee that the information provided is complete. This report is published for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute and should not be relied upon as a basis for any investment decision. The information presented is subject to change without notice and may or may not apply depending on the circumstances. Always contact a qualified investment consultant if you need advice regarding buying, selling, or otherwise transacting in any investment.