As the COVID-19 pandemic fades into memory, remote work has become a lasting part of everyday life for some industries.
For 12% of full-time employees in the US, work is still fully remote, while 27% are on a hybrid schedule, according to a recent WalletHub report. But working from home doesn’t look the same across the 50 states.
To determine the states with the best conditions for working from home, WalletHub ranked the 50 states and Washington, DC, based on the quality of their work environment and their living environment.
The work environment category considered metrics including the share of people working from home in the state, the share of households with internet access, and the state’s cybersecurity. The living environment category included average home size and internet and electricity costs, among others.
WalletHub used data from the US Census Bureau, US Energy Information Administration, Zillow, and other sources.
“While work-from-home jobs can be done anywhere, certain states make the practice much better than others,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report.
Alaska, Montana, and West Virginia ranked in the bottom three spots. The states were found to have the highest internet costs in the US.
See the 15 states with the best conditions for working from home, according to WalletHub’s report.
15. Pennsylvania
Work environment rank: 8
Living environment rank: 41
14. New Hampshire
Work environment rank: 10
Living environment rank: 35
According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, the percentage of remote workers in 2019 was 7.3%, which more than doubled to 16% in 2024.
13. Georgia
Work environment rank: 28
Living environment rank: 3
12. Tennessee
Work environment rank: 21
Living environment rank: 4
Clarksville Now reported in 2025 that the top five counties in Tennessee with the highest percentage of remote workers were all located in and around the Nashville metropolitan area.
11. Minnesota
Work environment rank: 17
Living environment rank: 8
10. North Carolina
Work environment rank: 15
Living environment rank: 12
The Miami Herald reported in 2024 that Cary, North Carolina, had the third-highest percentage of remote workers in the US, at 31%.
9. Virginia
Work environment rank: 11
Living environment rank: 14
8. Washington
Work environment rank: 12
Living environment rank: 11
Washington had the third-highest share of the population working from home and the fifth-highest number of households with internet access, WalletHub reported. However, it ranked 48th out of all states and Washington, DC, for the report’s cybersecurity metric.
7. Rhode Island
Work environment rank: 7
Living environment rank: 20
Rhode Island ranked fourth-best in the US in cybersecurity.
6. New Jersey
Work environment rank: 2
Living environment rank: 40
New Jersey was found to have the fourth-highest share of households with internet access.
5. Massachusetts
Work environment rank: 5
Living environment rank: 30
WalletHub found Massachusetts to have the most households with internet access in the US.
Per the Boston news outlet WCVB, a 2025 survey of 120 businesses in the Greater Boston area found that 85% utilized hybrid work models. Only 6% required fully in-person work.
4. Maryland
Work environment rank: 3
Living environment rank: 31
Maryland had the fourth-highest share of the population working from home in the US, WalletHub found.
3. Connecticut
Work environment rank: 6
Living environment rank: 7
Connecticut was found to have the cheapest internet prices in the country, paired with high access to broadband internet.
While 16% of the state’s workforce works from home, nearly 96% of workers in the state have the potential to do so, WalletHub reported.
2. Delaware
Work environment rank: 4
Living environment rank: 18
Delaware had an even higher percentage of potential remote workers, at 97%.
The average home size in the state, 2,064 square feet, ranks 9th largest in the country, making working from home potentially more comfortable than in other states.
1. Utah
Work environment rank: 9
Living environment rank: 1
Utah landed the top spot in WalletHub’s report thanks to low electricity costs and modest internet costs. The state also had the third-highest share of households with broadband internet.
A standout metric for Utah was home size, having the largest homes in the US at an average of 2,459 square feet.
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