A team of researchers analyzed the share of job vacancies that specifically allow working from home at least one day a week and found the best and worst US cities for working remotely.
The most remote-friendly city isn’t San Francisco or San Jose, California, but Bloomfield, Connecticut, where nearly half of job vacancies offer some freedom to work from home. It’s followed by Augusta, the capital of Maine, and Dover, Delaware.
The top ten isn’t limited to cities in the Northeast; also making the cut are Lansing, Michigan, and Helena, Montana.
What about the worst cities? Those seeking remote jobs should steer clear of Burleson, Texas, along with Olive Branch, Mississippi, and Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
With many companies slowing hiring, conducting layoffs and getting stricter about return-to-office policies, there’s concern that remote jobs are getting more scarce. The data from academics, including Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom, show that the share of job listings that offer at least some remote work declined across many US cities in March.
In Phoenix, for example, remote jobs were 15% of all vacancies in March, down from about 18% over the past four months, while in San Diego, the share declined to 13.5% from 15.4%.
This could set up a clash with employees who prefer more flexibility. A recent survey of more than 2,000 college seniors from ZipRecruiter found that 44% want a hybrid work arrangement, 33% preferred to be fully remote, and just 23% wanted to work on-site every day.
