Working from Home? Shock. Some States are Better than Others
Published May 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM · News Releases and Bulletins
Working from home became “the” thing when COVID hit in 2020. For some companies to survive, workers had to “sacrifice” and stay home and work via the Internet and other sources.
Maybe “sacrifice” isn’t the best word choice.
With the end of the pandemic came pushes from employers to get a lot of us back into the office. Some were able to survive and can pretty much work full-time from home. That figure is about 13%. Others were able to negotiate a hybrid deal. And it appears 26% were able to cut that deal.
And then there are the unfortunates who were forced to go back to the office “or else!”
WalletHub took a look at the conditions of those among us “sacrificing” to work from home. Some states — it seems — have working at home conditions that are better than others. Among those conditions are home security, the low cost of working at home and being reasonably comfortable at home.
WalletHub graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 12 metrics relative to working at home. Spokesman Chip Lupo said they were also divided into work environment and living environment.
Work environment was weighted with 60 points. Here’s the breakdown:
Share of Workers Working from Home: Triple Weight (~22.50 Points)
Share of Potential Telecommuters: Double Weight (~15.00 Points)
Households’ Internet Access: Double Weight (~15.00 Points)
Cybersecurity: Full Weight (~7.50 Points)
Living Environment was worth Total Points: 40
Average Retail Price of Electricity: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Access to Wired Low-priced Internet Plan: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Note: This metrics refers to low-priced broadband plans and it is a composite metric that includes:
Cable
DSL
Fiber
Internet Cost: Quadruple Weight (~13.33 Points)
Median Square Footage per Average Number of Persons in a Household: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
Share of Detached Housing Units: Full Weight (~3.33 Points)
Average Home Square Footage: Double Weight (~6.67 Points)
Share of for Sale Homes with Lot Greater than 1,000 Square Feet: Half Weight (~1.67 Points)
Share of for Sale Homes with Swimming Pool: Half Weight (~1.67 Points)
“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,” Lupo said. “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.”
Delaware ranks number one:
Total score: 67.32
Work environment rank: 5
Living environment rank: 3
The rest of the top 10:
Utah
Maryland
District of Columbia
New Jersey
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
Massachusetts
Washington
New Hampshire
The PIA Western Alliance states
- Washington
Total score: 69.81
Work environment rank: 10
Living environment rank: 7
- Nevada
Total score: 57.15
Work environment rank: 22
Living environment rank: 16
- Arizona
Total score: 56.90
Work environment rank: 21
Living environment rank: 19
- Oregon
Total score: 55.41
Work environment rank: 25
Living environment rank: 28
- California
Total score: 53.57
Work environment rank: 24
Living environment rank: 34
- Hawaii
Total score: 49.00
Work environment rank: 31
Living environment rank: 43
- New Mexico
Total score: 47.95
Work environment rank: 42
Living environment rank: 32
- Idaho
Total score: 46.79
Work environment rank: 43
Living environment rank: 36
- Montana
Total score: 33.23
Work environment rank: 50
Living environment rank: 47
- Alaska
Total score: 30.98
Work environment rank: 51
Living environment rank: 49
Share of population working from home — Mississippi has the least number of people working from home. The PIA Western Alliance states of Washington and Oregon rank 3rd and 5th respectively.
The highest number of potential telecommuters is in Mississippi. Two of the states with the lowest numbers are The PIA Western Alliance states of Alaska and Montana, with Montana ranking 50th and Alaska 47th.
Source link: WalletHub — https://bit.ly/4kw8awJ