New Jersey, Utah among best states to work from home, according to WalletHub report
WalletHub recently published a report finding New Jersey and Utah as the overall best states for remote work.
According to the report, WalletHub ranked all states and Washington, D.C., on work environment and living environment. The dimensions were then analyzed by 12 key metrics, ranging from “share of workers working from home” to “internet cost and cybersecurity.” Factors such as “how large and how crowded homes are in each state” were also measured.
The maximum value a state could get was 100: 60 for work environment and 40 for living environment, per the report. Here are the five highest-ranking states in total points:
New Jersey (64.76).
Utah (64.47).
Delaware (64.25).
Maryland (63.59).
Washington, D.C. (62.87).
Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Maryland ranked best for work environment, while Utah, Colorado and Texas were listed best for living environment. In addition, Washington, D.C., ranked the highest for “share of population working from home” and Mississippi was listed the highest for “share of potential telecommuters.”
Remote work can save money
Global Workforce Analytics, a employer-centered consulting firm, estimated in a 2021 report that “employees save between $600 and $6,000 per year by working at home half the time.” The savings are reportedly from “reduced costs for travel, parking, and food” and balanced out with added energy and home food costs.
Similarly, a 2022 survey by Owl Labs found that employees who worked at an office spent twice as much money ($863 per month) than those who worked remotely ($432 per month).
Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst, said in WalletHub’s report that remote work “can save people a lot of money on transportation expenses,” but factors such as cost of internet and cost of energy can “greatly impact people’s savings and productivity.”
Will remote work continue on?
Katrina Burch, the director of the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Graduate Program at Western Kentucky University, said in an emailed statement from WalletHub that work-from-home roles will “continue to increase in 2024 and beyond.”
“This is because organizations that allow remote work options will increase the available talent pool for positions and perhaps have a better capacity to attract top talent.”
Remote work continues to be utilized. Around a third of workers in the U.S. fully work remotely if available, and 41% work remotely part time on a hybrid setup, according to a recent study published by Pew Research Center.
“Most employees want to work in a hybrid or flexible way ... work from home is here to stay, and companies should lean into the trend as opposed to trying to return to prior ways of working,” said Katina Sawyer, an associate professor at the University of Arizona, per the emailed statement.
