Zoom Towns USA: America's Best Cities for Remote Workers

Despite declining COVID-19 levels, America’s “Great Resignation” is continuing apace. In February, for example, nearly 4.5 million people quit their jobs, and there were twice as many open jobs than unemployed workers, according to government data.

While more employers bring workers back to the office as the pandemic appears to wind down, the tight labor market suggests flexible work options are here to stay. Many companies have permanently embraced remote work.

Where are the best cities to live if you are no longer tethered to a work commute? Ownerly analyzed 445 cities across the nation, looking at rent and housing prices, cost of living, safety data, level of broadband and free Wi-Fi coverage. Besides expanding our list of cities by nearly 50% from our 2021 Best Zoom Towns list, we also added new metrics that include cost and availability of childcare, restaurants and coworking spaces. This year, we also leaned on city-level data rather than metro-level data wherever possible.

Key takeaways

• Small cities are havens for remote work. Fourteen of our top 25 cities for remote work have populations of under 100,000. Midsize cities (population of under 250,000) accounted for six of our picks, while five cities have a population of more than 250,000.
• The Midwest and Northeast states are best for remote work. In our top 25 cities, 11 were from Midwestern states and nine from the Northeast. Three cities were from Western states and only two from the South.
• The West Coast is not the best coast for Zoom Towns. Although California and the Pacific Northwest are known for tech giants that enabled the remote work revolution, the high cost of living locked West Coast cities out of top 25 contention.
• New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio are the top states for remote workers. Cities in these states also do well when looking at top Zoom Towns by size and region. While cities from Southern states didn’t rank well overall, Texas and Georgia cities account for five of our top 15 midsize cities for remote workers.

1. Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Score 72.8

It may surprise some that our top pick for remote workers is at the heart of one of the largest Amish populations in the US, but Lancaster offers plenty of free Wi-Fi locations, an assortment of broadband providers and several options for coworking spaces. Moreover, the city is among the safest we surveyed, and median home prices are lower than average among Northeastern states. Greenspace access is high, with 96% of residents having access to nearby parks. Even with its country lifestyle, big city amenities are a short drive away—Lancaster is about a 90-minute drive from Philadelphia, and both New York and Washington are under three hours away.

2. Dalton, Georgia

Score: 72.2

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern corner of Georgia, Dalton is called the “carpet capital of the world,” with dozens of carpet and flooring mills in the area. Despite being a manufacturing hub, the city offers a lot of amenities for digital workers: Broadband coverage is higher than most other cities we examined, and the city has the lowest cost of utilities among our top 10. The city’s greenspace score—a measure of parks within a 10-minute walk—is lowest among our top 10, but Dalton has a wide variety of parks and hiking, biking and canoeing opportunities within a 20-minute drive. Quick getaways are a short drive away, with Atlanta about 90 miles south of Dalton and Chattanooga, Tennessee, 35 miles to the north.

3. McAllen, Texas

Score: 71.4

A border town along the Rio Grande in southern Texas, McAllen evolved from a farming community into a mecca for shopping and bird watching, with more than 540 species recorded in the area. It’s a popular destination for snowbirds—or “Winter Texans” as they are known locally—who seasonally escape from colder climes. The city has great food choices and lower restaurant costs compared to other Southern cities. McAllen has a low cost of living and the lowest rental costs among our top 10 Zoom Towns. McAllen recently created free Wi-Fi hotspots available throughout the city and, like all our top 10 cities, offers good choices for home broadband services.

4. Topeka, Kansas

Score: 71.0

The capital of Kansas, Topeka is a midsize city that offers affordable housing and good access to public Wi-Fi. That gives remote-working residents more chances to split the day outside—more than 70% of residents have access to a park within a 10-minute walk from home compared to 60% of the Midwest cities in our study. Among the top 10 Zoom Towns on our list, buying a home here is the most affordable, with the average price of goods and services among the lowest, too. Nearby Lake Shawnee draws nearly a million visitors each year for boating, fishing and swimming. Topeka also offers cultural stops, such as the Combat Air Museum of antique aircraft and Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, housed at the school that spawned the 1954 Supreme Court decision that ended school segregation.

5. Rochester, New York

Score: 70.98

Located on the shores of Lake Ontario, Rochester is the birthplace for technology companies such as Eastman Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox. Thanks in part to the Rochester Institute of Technology, the local economy remains STEM-heavy. The average age of the population is significantly lower than other Northeastern cities. Remote workers can count on plentiful broadband options and readily available, free Wi-Fi hotspots throughout this medium-sized city. A variety of restaurants and outdoor activities, especially for cold-weather fun, such as skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing and skating, are also easy to find.

6. Lincoln, Nebraska

Score: 70.9

The second-largest city in Nebraska, Lincoln is the state capital and home to the state university’s flagship campus. As a college town, a large number of restaurants and businesses offer free Wi-Fi, a good selection of broadband choices and a decent choice of coworking spaces. For young families, Lincoln is among the lowest priced for childcare costs in our top 10 Zoom Towns. More than 90% of the Lincoln population has access to the outdoors within 10 minutes, so it’s convenient to get a quick dose of nature in one of the area’s 130-plus parks, including the 668-acre Pioneers Park Nature Center near downtown.

7. Cheyenne, Wyoming

Score: 70.7

The only Western city to make our top 10 list, Cheyenne is the capital city of Wyoming, located in the southeastern corner of the state. For a smaller city, there are many options for free Wi-Fi per capita, and it offers the most affordable restaurant prices among our top Zoom Towns. Cheyenne is cowboy country and celebrates its heritage with its annual Frontier Days, a 10-day celebration that features rodeos, chuck wagon races, concerts and other events. For outdoor enthusiasts, nearby Medicine Bow National Forest and Curt Gowdy State Park offer year-long activities for rock climbers, boaters, campers and fishermen. For quick getaways, Cheyenne is about a 100-mile drive to both Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park.

8. Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Score: 70.31

Williamsport sits on the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in north-central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River and is the second smallest city by population in our top 10 list. One sport dominates this small town: baseball. As the home of Little League Baseball, Williamsport hosts the annual Little League World Series. It’s also home to the Philadelphia Phillies-associated minor league club, the Crosscutters. Williamsport has lower home prices compared to other northeast cities we examined and among the lowest child care costs in our top 10 Zoom Towns list. The city is surrounded by 300,000 acres of state gamelands, which draw hunters and others outdoors lovers.

9. Cincinnati, Ohio

Score: 70.3

The largest city to make our top 10 list, Cincinnati sits on the Ohio River in southwestern Ohio. Home to major sports teams such as the Reds of Major League Baseball and the Bengals of the National Football League, Cincinnati is a great city for sports fans. For remote workers, Cincinnati has free Wi-Fi in a large number of areas and offers an abundance of greenspace in easy walking distance for a city its size. While it has the highest median rent among top Zoom Towns, if you want amenities a large city provides—such as concerts, theaters and a great variety of places to eat—Cincinnati may be the town.

10. Kingston, New York

Score: 70.29

The smallest city by population among our top 10, Kingston is located 90 miles north of New York. This historic town was first settled in 1652 and served as New York’s first capital city. Famously burned by British soldiers in 1777, a moment the city remembers today with Revolutionary War reenactments, modern Kingston offers median home prices lower than average for the Northeast. Kingston also has the highest density of restaurants per capita among our top cities for remote workers. Situated at the base of the Catskill Mountains, it offers an array of ski resorts and other cold-weather activities during the winter and hiking in the fall through summer seasons, and it is only a two-hour drive from New York.

Top 25 cities

Top 15 by size

Looking at best Zoom Towns by population size, the Buckeye State is on top here—three large and three medium-sized cities on our top 15 lists are in Ohio. While Southern states don’t fare as well in our top 25 overall, the region does better when looking at medium-sized cities: One-third of the cities on our list are in Texas and Georgia.

Large

Population of 250,000 or more

Medium

Population over 100,000 and under 250,000

Small

Population of 100,000 or less

Top 15 by region

Looking at regions, Pennsylvania and New York dominate the Northeast, with the two states accounting for 11 of 15 top regional Zoom Towns. In the Midwest, Ohio cities account for four spots followed by Illinois with three cities. Southern cities are equally divided, with three top Zoom Towns each for Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas. While the state did poorly in our overall rankings, four of 15 top Zoom Towns in the West are from California.

Northeast

Midwest

South

West

Methodology

For this study, Ownerly examined 1,488 metropolitan, micropolitan statistical areas (MSA) and cities as identified by the U.S. Census Bureau. After vetting missing data and incorporating averages from MSAs and states where applicable, the final list of places and MSAs was limited to 445 cities.

We ranked metrics based on a weighted average of home values, rental costs, web connectivity, safety, park access, availability of coworking spaces, city and state-level athletic health levels and gym options, affordability of goods and services and utilities, as well as affordability and availability of childcare services and restaurants. In all cases, we used the latest available data. Data was, in some instances, limited by delays in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

Other data sources include the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Communication Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Trust for Public Land, Yelp Fusion and Numbeo.

For more information or press inquiries, please contact Kerry Sherin ([email protected] ).

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