Maps

Mapped: Remote Workers by U.S. City

Published

1 month ago

December 13, 2024

Kayla Zhu

Graphics/Design:

Sabrina Lam

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

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Remote Worker By U.S. Metropolitan Area

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The pandemic and its aftermath sparked a significant shift toward remote work, transforming how and where people do their jobs.

Over one-third (35%) of U.S. workers with jobs that can be done remotely are now working from home all of the time, according to Pew Research.

To understand this trend at a regional level, we visualize the number of remote workers and share of remote workers in the workforce in the top 30 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas with the most remote workers in 2023.

The figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which U.S. City Has The Most Remote Workers?

Below, we show the top 30 U.S. metropolitan areas by number of remote workers and their share of remote workers.

Metropolitan area	Number of Remote Workers	% of Workers That Work Remotely
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area	1,300,973	12.5%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area	952,276	13.8%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area	745,855	20.7%
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area	729,953	14.4%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area	687,812	15.6%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area	609,408	17.8%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area	528,630	15.8%
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area	481,980	18.4%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area	481,798	19.0%
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area	470,828	16.6%
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area	459,609	11.8%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area	451,688	13.8%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area	436,144	19.0%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area	382,847	18.2%
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area	377,021	21.2%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area	339,824	23.6%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area	314,698	18.4%
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area	310,722	20.3%
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area	284,557	12.8%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area	278,415	20.0%
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area	268,098	15.0%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area	247,248	16.4%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area	242,888	10.5%
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area	235,921	15.4%
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area	207,940	16.8%
St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area	199,092	13.2%
Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area	195,326	23.3%
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area	195,295	16.7%
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area	193,286	13.9%
Columbus, OH Metro Area	187,316	15.9%

The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area emerges as a prominent remote working hub in the United States.

The city has 23.6% of its workforce (339,824 people) working remotely, second only to Boulder, Colorado, where 26.2% (49,171 people) work remotely.

Austin’s high share of remote workers is driven by its growing tech industry, favorable business climate, and generally high quality of life with a vibrant city culture.

The Raleigh-Cary metro area in North Carolina trails closely behind Austin, with 23.3% of its workforce working remotely. Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle, a region of North Carolina known for its proximity to three major research universities: Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.

The area is known for these research institutions and a high concentration of tech and biotech companies.

Major metro areas New York-Newark-Jersey City and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim recorded the most total remote workers, at 1.3 million and 952,000 respectively.

However, remote work makes up just 12.5% of New York’s workforce and 13.8% of Los Angeles.