Study Unveils the U.S. Cities with the Most Remote Workers

Working from home has been around for many years, though it certainly became more prevalent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, some companies are pumping the brakes on work-from-home policies—and a few are even issuing total return-to-office mandates.

Even one of the most popular platforms utilized by remote workers, Zoom, issued a mandate requiring its employees to return to the office. While some Americans don’t mind commuting to an office each day, others have grown fond of remote work and are not ready to part ways with it just yet.

At Fullstack Academy, we prepare students for in-demand tech roles, which are among the most likely to be remote. We’re a proudly remote-first company ourselves—headquartered in NYC with employees located across the United States. So, as current and prospective tech professionals navigate the 2025 workforce landscape, we set out to learn which parts of the country have most embraced a work-from-home modality.

Using newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, we analyzed the remote work status of residents in each state and more than 100 U.S. cities. Read on to learn where the most remote workers reside.

Key Takeaways

• Arlington, VA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, D.C. are home to the most remote workers.

• Brockton, MA; Springfield, MA; and Beaumont, TX are home to the fewest remote workers.

• Colorado, Oregon, and Arizona are the top three states with the most remote workers.

• Mississippi, Louisiana, and North Dakota are the top three states with the fewest remote workers.

• Overall, millennials (ages 28 to 44) are the most likely generation to work from home.

• Overall, women are more likely than men to work from home.

• On average, remote workers make $27,000 more per year than non-remote workers.

• Web developers, writers and authors, and travel agents are the top three occupations for remote workers.

Where Americans Work from Home the Most and Least

While working from home can at times grant you the ability to work anywhere in the world, regardless of your company’s headquarters, we wanted to learn which cities in the U.S. have fewer people commuting each day to their offices.

First, Arlington, VA, has the most remote workers, with nearly a third (29.33%) of the city’s workers clocking in from home. While some roles in government agencies had the privilege of telework before 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic opened the door to many others as organizations took steps to limit in-person interactions when possible. Arlington’s proximity to the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., provides its residents with opportunities to work from home for government agencies and defense contractors, boosting the overall number of remote workers.

For second place, we travel to the other side of the country, Seattle, WA, where nearly a third (28.60%) of people work remotely. Known as a tech hub, Seattle is home to a variety of leaders in the tech industry hiring for remote workers, including Microsoft and Oracle. Additionally, the tech landscape is continuing to grow in Seattle as many startups have settled in the city offering flexible work policies to attract top talent.

In third place, we move back to the east coast to Washington, D.C. Similar to Arlington, VA, residents of the capital city have an array of government and public sector positions available for remote work. Washington, D.C. is also home to many lobbying, law, and advisory firms with administrative jobs that allow employees to work from home each day.

While some parts of the country are home to companies that allow a majority of their teams to work remotely, other parts require workers to report in person. In first place for the least remote workers is Brockton, MA, with just 3.44% of workers staying at home each day for work. This relatively low number may result from the city's industrial history. In 1919, the city was home to 39 shoe manufacturing companies, and today the city’s economy still leans on more hands-on industries. Brockton is home to many industries including healthcare, food production, and advanced manufacturing.

In second place with 4.11% of people working from home is Springfield, MA, where Baystate Medical Center is the top employer with 13,000 staffers. The healthcare industry as a whole tends to be an in-person field due to the face-to-face interactions required to provide care to patients. Additionally, a lack of large tech or professional services like those in Boston, MA (25th), contribute to the lower presence of remote workers.

In third place is Beaumont, TX where 4.23% of the city’s workers are remote. The city about 85 miles east of Houston, is home to a variety of on-site industries including oil, manufacturing, healthcare, and construction. Some of the major employers in Beaumont include ENGlobal Corporation, ExxonMobil, and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. These are just a few of the companies that contribute to the higher percentage of in-person workers in the city.

Benefits of Remote Work

According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, working from home doesn’t just benefit the worker, but the company as well, offering:

• Operational resilience when handling public health emergencies or severe weather events

• A more diverse, expanded workforce to find the workers that best fit their needs

• Increased productivity and engagement, leading to reduced stress and anxiety among staff

In that same vein, remote work has many advantages for employees, including benefits to workers’ mental health:

• Workers regain time in their personal lives when work commutes are eliminated.

• The feeling of burnout can be reduced or eliminated;

• Remote work can promote healthier eating habits.

The Occupations with the Most WFH Employees

According to our study, on average, millennials are the most likely generation to work from home, and women are more likely than men to work remotely. Even so, remote work is not for one type of person or occupation. It spans a range of industries due to its ever-expanding digital landscape.

To help show the diversity of jobs available for remote workers, we also analyzed the most common occupations remote workers currently hold. Leading the way are web developers with 57% of people in the career working from home. Like most of the other occupations in this ranking, web developers can work remotely because their day-to-day responsibilities typically rely on a stable internet connection, which can be achieved remotely for most people.

Next, in the creative field, we discovered that 54% of writers and authors work remotely. In third place are travel agents, perhaps taking the opportunity to work from a range of locations to plan vacations for themselves and others.

Overall, we found that remote workers make $27,000 more a year on average than non-remote workers. This may be just one more reason Americans are looking to stay in or switch to a job that allows them to work from home.

At Fullstack Academy, our live online learning approach simulates a real-world remote professional environment—preparing students with the skills they need to succeed in work-from-home roles. Software developers rank 13th on our list with 46% of these workers clocking in from home, and with our online coding bootcamp, you can learn these skills and begin your career in 12 to 26 weeks.

Overall, the world of STEM careers continues to thrive and many offer the opportunity to work remotely. Cybersecurity and software engineering are just two of the fastest-growing STEM tech jobs that allow workers to clock in from anywhere. So, if you are looking for a career with remote opportunities, perhaps tech is the field for you.

Kickstart Your Tech Career from Home

Remote jobs offer workers many benefits. From avoiding hectic morning traffic to saving money on clothing, working from home has several perks. This flexibility does not have to be limited to the workplace, however, as your education can also be accomplished from the comfort of your own home.

Even amid a recent wave of employers issuing return-to-office mandates, remote work is here to stay. Globally, according to the World Economic Forum, digital jobs that can be performed almost anywhere are slated to grow 25% by 2030. Among these digital-centric jobs are software engineers, data analysts, cybersecurity analysts, and other traditional tech roles.

Furthermore, the increased availability of higher-wage remote jobs is driven by technical innovation. By pursuing a career in tech, you’re contributing to greater prosperity across the globe—as well as greater income potential, autonomy, and advancement in the workplace for yourself.

Prepare for these types of careers from home by enrolling in a Fullstack Academy Tech Bootcamp. With subject areas in artificial intelligence, software engineering, cybersecurity, and data analytics, you can acquire the knowledge and career-ready practical skills to thrive in some of the most commonly remote positions—no matter where you live. Apply now.

Methodology

For this study, we set out to learn which cities have the most remote workers. To do this, we analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey, which was published in September 2024.

We collected data for the question, “How did you usually get to work last week?" and the answer “Worked from home." We then found the U.S. cities, states, and occupations that work from home most. Additionally, we collected demographic insights for remote workers.

Using this data, we ranked cities and states from the most to least remote workers. For our city ranking, only cities with at least 100,000 residents were included. Finally, the “% who work from home" is a proportion of all employed people.