Study Reveals the Best & Worst States for Working from Home

With 71% of people whose jobs can be done remotely working from home all or most of the time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on the Best States for Working from Home in order to highlight which areas are thriving and which are struggling in this pandemic economy.

To identify which states are most conducive to working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of workers working from home before COVID-19 to internet cost and cybersecurity.

The study also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in the state. Together, these metrics show how feasible working from home is in terms of cost, comfort, and safety.

Best States for Remote Work

According to the study, Delaware is the best state for working from home followed by North Carolina, and Georgia in that order.

“Delaware is the best state for working from home due in part to the fact that the state provides a comfortable environment for working remotely, with the sixth largest average home square footage,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.

“In addition, nearly 97 percent of households in Delaware have internet speeds above 25Mbps,” Jill added. “Plus, Delaware has one of the highest percentages of people who could potentially work from home, so many workers can take advantage of these good remote work conditions.”

Worst States for Remote Work

Meanwhile, Alaska ranked as the worst state for working from home at position 51. Other states that ranked bottom of the list are Hawaii and North Dakota at positions 50 and 49 respectively.

“One reason Alaska ranks lowest for working from home is that only around 68 percent of households have broadband internet access. In addition, Alaska has the fifth lowest share of potential telecommuters,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst.

“On top of that, Alaska is the fourth lowest ranked state when it comes to cybersecurity and has the third highest cost of electricity in the nation,” said Jill. “For many people, working from home in Alaska will be difficult, costly, and risky.”

Best States for Working from Home

Worst States for Working from Home

1. Delaware

42. West Virginia

2. North Carolina

43. Iowa

3. Georgia

44. New Mexico

4. New Hampshire

45. Wyoming

5. Tennessee

46. Montana

6. Arizona

47. Arkansas

7. New Jersey

48. Mississippi

8. Texas

49. North Dakota

9. Utah

50. Hawaii

10. Oregon

51. Alaska

Other highlights from the study:

• Colorado has the highest share of the labor force working from home, 8.30 percent, which is 3.5 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at 2.40 percent.
• New Hampshire has the highest share of households with a broadband internet subscription, 79.30 percent, which is 1.7 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at 47.60 percent.
• Connecticut has the highest share of households with access to broadband speeds over 25 Mbps, 98.70 percent, which is 1.5 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at 65.40 percent.
• South Dakota has the fewest cybercrime victims per 100,000 residents, 54.33, which is four times fewer than in Nevada, the state with the most at 214.68.
• Indiana has the lowest amount lost per victim as a result of internet crime, $2,466, which is 11.5 times lower than in Ohio, the state with the highest at $28,394.
• Oklahoma has the lowest residential retail price of electricity, 8.88 cents per kWh, which is 3.3 times lower than in Hawaii, the state with the highest at 29.14 cents per kWh. 

Full List of Best States for Remote Work

Overall Rank

State

Total Score

Work Environment

Living Environment

1

Delaware

65.51

4

22

2

North Carolina

63.91

8

12

3

Georgia

63.11

20

1

4

New Hampshire

62.98

7

44

5

Tennessee

62.69

12

3

6

Arizona

62.65

6

24

7

New Jersey

62.57

21

17

8

Texas

62.11

17

2

9

Utah

62.09

2

29

10

Oregon

60.98

10

30

11

Virginia

60.73

23

10

12

Colorado

60.50

1

47

12

Florida

60.50

5

26

14

South Dakota

60.24

27

20

15

Connecticut

60.14

13

35

16

Pennsylvania

59.95

9

43

17

Washington

59.66

16

21

18

Maryland

59.56

18

33

19

South Carolina

59.47

31

6

20

Idaho

59.37

22

9

21

Wisconsin

58.97

25

31

22

Ohio

58.41

26

15

23

Massachusetts

58.39

11

42

24

Nevada

58.23

14

19

25

Indiana

58.18

30

8

26

Minnesota

58.01

19

40

27

New York

57.80

39

11

28

Rhode Island

57.62

44

28

29

Louisiana

57.59

33

5

30

Kentucky

57.38

29

32

31

Alabama

57.12

34

4

32

California

57.05

15

36

33

Missouri

56.29

32

27

34

Michigan

55.99

36

39

35

Kansas

55.57

43

23

36

Illinois

55.41

24

41

37

Vermont

55.11

42

45

38

District of Columbia

55.01

3

50

39

Nebraska

54.96

49

13

40

Maine

53.77

28

48

41

Oklahoma

53.72

35

16

42

West Virginia

53.60

37

34

43

Iowa

53.49

38

46

44

New Mexico

52.74

41

38

45

Wyoming

52.71

40

37

46

Montana

51.76

46

25

47

Arkansas

50.41

47

18

48

Mississippi

50.00

48

7

49

North Dakota

49.61

51

14

50

Hawaii

45.70

45

51

51

Alaska

37.73

50

49

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

Improving Remote Working

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, companies should invest more of their resources in establishing a functional work from home alternative for their employees even after the pandemic, says WalletHub.

“Having at least some employees work from home creates a more hygienic and less chaotic work environment, and would help minimize the economic damage of future crises like the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jill. “Letting employees work from home could lead to a general boost in worker morale, too, considering the majority of people who currently work from home want to continue doing so.”

And for remote workers, WalletHub has some advice:

“People who work from home should treat it the same way as they would going to their place of work normally. They should continue to follow their daily work routine, just without the commute,” said Jill.

“It’s important for workers to be punctual and minimize the number of distractions around them from things in their house that wouldn’t be at work, such as a TV. However, workers could consider getting a little extra sleep or having a better breakfast in the time they normally would have spent commuting.”