It's been five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while remote work existed before, the pandemic made this arrangement much more prevalent.
Fullstack Academy recently ranked the U.S. cities with the highest and lowest percentage of remote workers, by analyzing the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey, which was published in September 2024, focusing on the question "How did you usually get to work last week?" From there, they determined a percentage of remote workers by using the number of respondents who answered "worked from home" against the number of employed people in the city.
Arlington, Virginia, has the largest percentage of remote workers, with 29.33% of workers working from home. This city is located near the nation's capital, and until recently, many government workers and contractors were permitted to work remotely.
Other top cities include Seattle and Washington, D.C. Seattle has 28.60% of workers working from home and D.C. has 27.15%.
Read more: Employees are fighting against RTO mandates by 'task masking'
Brockton, Massachusetts, has the smallest percentage of remote workers at 3.44%. Many industries in this city are hands-on, with jobs in healthcare, food production and manufacturing.
Other cities with the smallest percentage of remote employees include Springfield, Massachusetts, and Beaumont, Texas. Springfield has 4.11% of remote workers and Beaumont has 4.23%.
Read more about the cities with the highest and lowest percentage of remote workers.
U.S. cities with the lowest percentage of remote workers
Rank
| City
| % who work from home
|
10
| Laredo, TX
| 6.05%
|
9
| Paterson, NJ
| 5.87%
|
8
| Elizabeth, NJ
| 5.61%
|
7
| Corpus Christi, TX
| 5.01%
|
6
| Downey, CA
| 4.83%
|
5
| Salinas, CA
| 4.74%
|
4
| Allentown, PA
| 4.68%
|
3
| Beaumont, TX
| 4.23%
|
2
| Springfield, MA
| 4.11%
|
1
| Brockton, MA
| 3.44%
|
U.S. cities with the highest percentage of remote workers
Rank
| City
| % who work from home
|
10
| San Francisco
| 23.38%
|
9
| Alexandria, VA
| 24.17%
|
8
| Columbia, MD
| 24.41%
|
7
| Pasadena, CA
| 24.56%
|
6
| Ann Arbor, MI
| 24.60%
|
5
| Portland, OR
| 25.45%
|
4
| Denver
| 26.21%
|
3
| Washington, DC
| 27.15%
|
2
| Seattle
| 28.60%
|
1
| Arlington, VA
| 29.33%
|
