The Best and Worst States for Remote Work in the U.S

For many knowledge workers, remote working has cemented itself as preferential over the last five years. However, in the U.S. not all locations are created equal.

Those looking for remote work are currently working against geographical roadblocks; while some jobs are remote, they can only be found in a specific state or states.

So despite being able to complete your work anywhere in the world with an internet connection, the state you primarily reside in is considered in the application process.

There are several reasons for this, but essentially employment laws, taxes, business licenses, and regulations all differ from state to state, and the people power required to ensure interstate compliance is considerable.

For this reason, organizations limit applications to people residing in particular states.

Worst WFH states

New data analysis conducted by web hosting provider Hostinger, using U.S. Census Bureau information from January 9th to February 5th this year, reveals that Mississippi has the lowest number of people working remotely, at just 11.38%.

The Magnolia State is closely followed by Wyoming (15.6%) and North Dakota (17.8%), New Mexico (18.53%), and Louisiana (18.75%).

Also in the lowest ten states for WFH figures are Oklahoma (20.13%), Alabama (20.25%), Indiana (20.83%), Arkansas (21.03%), and South Carolina (21.44%)

A spokesperson from Hostinger commented: “It is fascinating to see such a big difference in the number of remote workers in each state. Many states with fewer remote workers, such as Mississippi, have economies that heavily lean on industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services that require physical presence.

“This limits opportunities for remote work compared to sectors like technology or finance, which are more prevalent in states such as Maryland.”

The Top Ten WFH States in the U.S

It was America in Miniature that topped the list, with 44.2% of the working population in Maryland working from home, followed by Colorado (38.6%), Vermont (38.2%), Utah (37.2%), and Massachusetts (36.6%).

Completing the top ten are New Hampshire (35.8%), Virginia (34.9%), New Jersey (33.8%), Minnesota (33.4%), and Washington (32.7%).

“For many, the idea of remote work began during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced workers to stay at home. Since then, more and more companies have started to embrace it permanently,” says the web hosting service spokesperson.

“The shift towards remote work has spotlighted its many benefits, particularly the increase in work-life balance. It eliminates daily commutes, allowing workers to reclaim valuable time.

“Additionally, working remotely offers the flexibility for individuals to design their own workspace, which fosters a more personalized and comfortable work environment.”

If you’re nodding your head in agreement and want to find a remote role, visit the HackerNoon Job Board.

There you can search and choose ‘Remote, USA’ instead of choosing a city, and that’ll take you to remote tech roles on offer, like these three:

Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform, Coinbase, Remote

Help build the future of finance and Web3 for Coinbase users across the world as a Site Reliability Engineer - Client Platform. This role involves partnering across the organization to build and maintain performant, reliable, and secure system architectures to support a diverse fleet of macOS, iOS, Windows, ChromeOS, and Android clients. You’ll need at least two years’ experience managing enterprise fleets at scale and have relevant experience in configuring and implementing modern open-source endpoint management tooling such as Puppet, Munki, Autopkg, NanoMDM/MicroMDM and Crypt. A full list of duties and requirements is available to view on the job spec. Read all about it.

Senior Cloud Security Engineer, Credit Acceptance, Remote

Join the Engineering Security function at Credit Acceptance, and you’ll be protecting cutting-edge web applications built on public cloud such as AWS and Azure. Now advertising for a Senior Cloud Security Engineer, the ideal candidate should possess strong cloud security skills, hybrid/multi-cloud network concepts, a deep understanding of secure software development life cycle methodologies, and have a keen eye for detail. Helpfully, the job spec details how you’ll be successful in this role, and provides a list of outcomes and activities. Find out more.

Java Developer, Blue Origin IT Staffing, Remote

If you’re a Java software engineer who enjoys working on complex problems and solutions, and you’re not afraid of learning something new on a daily basis, take a look at this Java Developer position at  Blue Origin IT Staffing. Currently in the process of transforming its large Clojure application into a more modern Java/Spring Boot architecture, this role will help the organization transcribe and work through the details of the Clojure app, and work alongside the Java team to build this new application. You’ll need five to eight years of experience, and this remote role is available anywhere in the U.S. Apply here.