It's hard to believe many of us have been working from home for almost a full year. As COVID-19 continues to spread, it's likely normal office life won't resume for the foreseeable future.
With a large portion of America's workforce continuing to work from home in 2021, PCMag set out to find the best cities for this new normal. According to their study's findings, these are the top five cities to work from home in:
5) Jonesbrough, TN
4) Kaysville, UT
3) Pawlet, VT
2) Bear Valley Springs, CA
1) Chattanooga, TN
PCMag reports that Chattanooga has been actively working to recruit tech workers and companies to move to the city and set up shop. The city boasts "affordable real estate, business-friendly administrations, and widely available broadband internet" which makes working from home easy and comfortable. "In 2020, it was evident that Chattanooga has been able to attract talent from major cities and companies," venture capitalist Santosh Sankarof Dynamo Management Co. in Chattanoogatold told PCMag. "The quality of life was a major reason many of these folks moved from places like NYC, SF, LA, and more."
PCMag looked for affordability and livability when looking for the best work from home cities. For affordability, 30% of the rating goes to a median home value index provided by BestPlaces.net, with lower values getting a better rating, while 20% goes to the minimum price for gigabit broadband, with lower prices getting a better rating. For livability, PCMag looked at median home size, the percentage of home-based workers in the community and attractive settings. The presence of coffee shops, the percentage of local restaurants that are not chains, the percentage of residents in arts and education and the percentage of residents in health care diagnostic and treatment professions were also considered when determining a city's livability.
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