The Best Cities for Working From Home

With the gig economy and virtual workplace technologies on the rise, it’s becoming more popular not to schlep into an office. Heck, employers can save on office space and workers can regain valuable commuting time. In fact, 37% of Americans telecommuted in 2015, up from 9% in 1995, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

If you have a job that allows you to telecommute, some cities may be better than others for your needs, according to an article published by Realtor.com, the website of the National Association of Realtors.

“We wanted to do a piece on places freelancers would actually want to live,” Clare Trapasso, senior news editor for Realtor.com, said.

The data compared the median costs for one-bedroom rentals in metropolitan areas, state and local taxes, individual health care plans, high-bandwidth internet connections, walkability, number of coffee shops with free Wi-Fi, number of gyms per capita and the number of bars open at 3 p.m. (The Realtor.com press release suggested asking freelancers about the importance of that one). Rent and sale prices carried the highest weight, Trapasso said.

The Ideal Cities for the Work-From-Home Life

1. Las Vegas
2. Salt Lake City
3. St. Louis
4. Pittsburgh
5. Atlanta
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Knoxville, Tenn.
8. Cincinnati
9. Minneapolis
10. New Orleans

Why Las Vegas Stands Out

There are many reasons that Las Vegas is great, but it tops this list because Nevada has no state income tax, housing prices are reasonable, with a one-bedroom median rental priced at $827 and a median house price of $241,500, about $66,000 below the median price of new and constructed homes, Trapasso said. It also offers plenty for freelancers and other telecommuters to do during off-hours, including having the highest number of bars open in the afternoon. Another plus: “Vegas has almost as many coffee shops with free Wi-Fi as Seattle,” according to the number crunchers at Realtor.com.

Some of these cities, like St. Louis, Cincinnati and Minneapolis, are also seeing a surge of co-working places in which people can rent desks to work in a shared office environment, Trapasso said.

If you’re considering a move, it’s a good idea to take a look at your credit scores to see what you can do to get them into top shape. The reason: A great credit score may be able to get you a better deal on a mortgage, because it contains a record of how well you’ve been paying your bills on time. And the lower your mortgage, the more money you’ll save over time. (You can view two of your free credit scores, updated every 14 days, on Credit.com.)

Image: Geber86