About 5 million of us either work freelance or toil from home. We can live anywhere. So where are the top choices of places to be?
RentCafe, an apartment-related information service, created a list of the top 50 cities for remote work. It ranked cities according to 19 metrics, which fall into five categories: comfort, value, leisure and remote work-readiness.
Some of the measurements include: days with good air quality, share of apartments with access to sports amenities, cost of living, average apartment size, and share of apartments with internet access.
The top 10 cities are:
1. Greenville, S.C.
2. Raleigh, N.C.
3. West Palm Beach, Fla.
4. Tampa, Fla.
5. Durham, N.C.
6. Alpharetta, Ga.
7. Columbus, Ga.
8. Huntsville, Ala.
9. College Station, Texas
10. Rockville, Md.
Notice they’re largely smaller cities, mostly in the Southeast. Life is generally cheaper and cleaner with a more temperate climate there.
Analysis of Cities
As for Greenville, apartments there are “among the largest in the country, which speaks to the level of comfort that you are getting in this charming city,” RentCafe said. Greenville “also offers plenty of short-term rentals.”
Raleigh has “a booming job market and highly educated residents,” RentCafe said. “The city has the 14th-highest number of remote workers in the country, proving that it’s already becoming a popular destination for professionals who work from home.”
Turning to West Palm Beach, “it ranks first in the country for internet speed and fourth for air quality,” RentCafe said. “The city is also 14th on the list for most short-term rentals.”
When it comes to Tampa, it has large apartments and easy access to sports amenities, RentCafe said. “Tampa also has the third-highest rental demand in the country, which shows just how many people choose to relocate” there.
As for Durham, it has “a great selection of high-quality apartments,” RentCafe said. “Remote workers here can benefit from enticing job opportunities and comfortable living spaces, all while working from home.”
As for Alpharetta, “the ‘technology city of the South has the most high-end apartments of all of the cities” ranked, Rent Café said. “The city also boasts the second largest apartments of all of the cities analyzed.”
Attractive Small Cities Overall
Meanwhile, personal-finance website WalletHub has compiled a list of the best small cities for anyone, not just remote workers. It compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on 43 key indicators of livability.
Those indicators include median income, cost of living, school-system quality, average commute time, restaurants per capita and crime rates.
The best cities are:
1. Lancaster, Pa.
2. Carmel, Ind.
3. Fair Lawn, N.J.
4. Lexington, Mass.
5. Brentwood, Tenn.
6. Melrose, Mass.
7. Zionsville, Ind.
8. Needham, Mass.
9. Portland, Maine
10. Westfield, Ind.
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