Pennsylvania: One Of The Best States For Working From Home
Many businesses embraced working from home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and plenty of workplaces have kept this structure in place. Forbes reported that as of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees work from home, while 28.2% work a hybrid model. The hybrid model combines both home and in-office working, offering flexibility and maintaining a level of physical presence at the workplace. According to Upwork, by 2025, an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, which equates to about 22% of the workforce.
While many businesses have adopted remote work arrangements, not everyone who gets to do it always has the best environment for doing so. “The best work-from-home conditions include low costs, reasonable comfort, a high level of security, and a lack of distractions,” said WalletHub, a personal finance company.
The personal finance company ranked the best states for working from home. To identify the states that provide the best conditions for working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. Their data set ranges from the share of workers working from home to internet cost and cybersecurity. They also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in each state.
“Working from home can save people a lot of money on transportation expenses, as well as make their work environment a lot more comfortable and their hours more flexible,” said Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst. “However, things like energy costs, internet speed, home sizes, and how many people live together can greatly impact people’s savings and productivity. While work-from-home jobs can be done anywhere, certain states make the practice much better than others,” she continued.
Pennsylvania Is One of the Best States for Working from Home
Pennsylvania snagged a spot in the top 10 at number 8. Overall, the state scored high marks in the work environment category. This includes internet access and strong cybersecurity.
New Jersey is the best state for working from home, with some of the lowest internet prices in the country and very high access to broadband internet, according to the ranking. Residents also are above average at staying safe when it comes to cybersecurity, so they’re less likely to have their work compromised. The ranking also points out that Around 13% of New Jersey’s workforce currently works from home, but over 96% of the workforce has the potential to telecommute, meaning that their jobs could be conducted remotely.
Following New Jersey is Utah. It has some of the lowest electricity prices in the country, which plays a big part in minimizing the cost of staying home all day, as the ranking highlights. Utah also has reasonable internet costs and the sixth-highest share of households with broadband internet.
Wrapping up the top three is Delaware. It’s the third-best state for working from home, with over 11% of the workforce currently doing so and nearly 97% having the potential to. Delaware has the third-lowest internet cost in the U.S. and the 8th highest broadband internet access.
Take a look at the complete ranking here.