Many companies now offer permanent remote jobs, allowing workers the ability to live and work where they want. Some people are even opting for the digital nomad lifestyle of frequent travel while still running their business or holding down their “9-5” job. With that in mind, Today’s Homeowner conducted a study to find the best (and worst) cities in America to be a digital nomad.

    We analyzed data on 100 of the largest cities and ranked them according to eight factors including coworking spaces, WiFi speeds, number of restaurants and bars, Airbnb prices. Keep reading to see our full list, our methodology, and the factors we used to determine these rankings. 


    Main Findings

    These are the best cities for digital nomads in 2023. The table below shows the overall rank, total score, and specific factor-category rank. The table is searchable and sortable so take a look as see how each city stacks up.

    Overall Rank

    City, State

    Overall Score

    Living Costs Rank

    Working Experience Rank

    Living Experience Rank

    1

    Saint Paul, Minnesota

    85.1

    6

    1

    23

    2

    Arlington, Texas

    84.6

    19

    27

    2

    3

    Tampa, Florida

    78.4

    55

    12

    6

    4

    Chandler, Arizona

    76

    73

    5

    8

    5

    Boston, Massachusetts

    75.5

    68

    2

    22

    6

    Minneapolis, Minnesota

    73.2

    13

    10

    44

    7

    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    72.2

    58

    13

    24

    8

    Gilbert, Arizona

    71.8

    74

    25

    5

    9

    Baltimore, Maryland

    70.8

    39

    6

    65

    10

    Boise, Idaho

    70.2

    28

    14

    46

    11

    Jersey City, New Jersey

    70

    49

    16

    38

    12

    Irving, Texas

    69.6

    21

    54

    19

    13

    Atlanta, Georgia

    69.6

    20

    95

    4

    14

    Newark, New Jersey

    69.5

    41

    28

    29

    15

    New Orleans, Louisiana

    69.3

    64

    18

    25

    16

    Hialeah, Florida

    69.3

    24

    69

    12

    17

    Kansas City, Missouri

    68.2

    4

    26

    63

    18

    St. Petersburg, Florida

    67.9

    53

    67

    10

    19

    Garland, Texas

    67.8

    46

    62

    15

    20

    Cincinnati, Ohio

    67

    30

    29

    45

    21

    Plano, Texas

    66.9

    42

    66

    18

    22

    Honolulu, Hawaii

    66.8

    76

    21

    17

    23

    Seattle, Washington

    66.7

    72

    3

    53

    24

    Aurora, Colorado

    66.3

    10

    55

    39

    25

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    66.2

    27

    19

    75

    26

    Chesapeake, Virginia

    65.7

    32

    47

    35

    27

    Virginia Beach, Virginia

    65.6

    61

    30

    31

    28

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    65.4

    59

    20

    50

    29

    Spokane, Washington

    65.3

    54

    8

    90

    30

    St. Louis, Missouri

    65.1

    33

    32

    51

    31

    Winston–Salem, North Carolina

    65

    14

    65

    33

    32

    Orlando, Florida

    64.7

    57

    98

    3

    33

    Fort Wayne, Indiana

    64.6

    9

    41

    66

    34

    Las Vegas, Nevada

    64

    82

    46

    7

    35

    Colorado Springs, Colorado

    63.9

    29

    37

    61

    36

    Washington, District of Columbia

    63.7

    67

    7

    73

    37

    Indianapolis, Indiana

    63.3

    52

    22

    78

    38

    Raleigh, North Carolina

    63.3

    38

    49

    47

    39

    Tucson, Arizona

    63.1

    50

    34

    59

    40

    Chicago, Illinois

    63.1

    70

    15

    52

    41

    Portland, Oregon

    62.6

    66

    11

    77

    42

    Greensboro, North Carolina

    62.3

    23

    33

    87

    43

    Santa Ana, California

    62.2

    93

    4

    34

    44

    Norfolk, Virginia

    62.1

    43

    36

    74

    45

    New York, New York

    62

    65

    39

    40

    46

    Glendale, Arizona

    61.9

    89

    35

    11

    47

    Scottsdale, Arizona

    61.8

    98

    74

    1

    48

    Oakland, California

    61

    85

    17

    30

    49

    Detroit, Michigan

    60.9

    45

    38

    81

    50

    Richmond, Virginia

    60.8

    35

    42

    80

    51

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    60.6

    2

    64

    89

    52

    Long Beach, California

    60.5

    91

    23

    21

    53

    El Paso, Texas

    59.9

    17

    73

    57

    54

    Columbus, Ohio

    59.8

    22

    51

    85

    55

    Mesa, Arizona

    59.7

    80

    40

    27

    56

    Fort Worth, Texas

    59.5

    40

    83

    42

    57

    Denver, Colorado

    59.4

    34

    61

    64

    58

    Chula Vista, California

    58.6

    94

    48

    9

    59

    Buffalo, New York

    58.3

    47

    80

    49

    60

    Toledo, Ohio

    58.1

    8

    76

    84

    61

    Laredo, Texas

    58

    3

    93

    60

    62

    Corpus Christi, Texas

    57.9

    63

    82

    32

    63

    Madison, Wisconsin

    57.4

    25

    71

    82

    64

    Charlotte, North Carolina

    57.2

    44

    77

    62

    65

    Anaheim, California

    57.2

    100

    9

    26

    66

    Durham, North Carolina

    57.1

    18

    79

    79

    67

    Albuquerque, New Mexico

    57

    16

    56

    98

    68

    Cleveland, Ohio

    56.6

    15

    63

    96

    69

    Nashville, Tennessee

    56.5

    86

    31

    36

    70

    Reno, Nevada

    56.3

    75

    45

    48

    71

    Louisville, Kentucky

    56.2

    60

    60

    76

    72

    Los Angeles, California

    56.2

    97

    53

    13

    73

    Wichita, Kansas

    56

    1

    72

    99

    74

    Dallas, Texas

    55.7

    48

    87

    56

    75

    Fremont, California

    55.6

    81

    24

    71

    76

    Jacksonville, Florida

    55.6

    56

    75

    69

    77

    Lexington, Kentucky

    55.4

    51

    78

    72

    78

    Lincoln, Nebraska

    55.2

    11

    89

    83

    79

    Baton Rouge, Louisiana

    54.9

    12

    84

    93

    80

    Omaha, Nebraska

    54.7

    26

    91

    68

    81

    Irvine, California

    54.2

    90

    81

    16

    82

    Houston, Texas

    53.9

    31

    85

    88

    83

    San Antonio, Texas

    53

    37

    86

    91

    84

    North Las Vegas, Nevada

    52.8

    79

    97

    14

    85

    Sacramento, California

    52.5

    84

    43

    55

    86

    Lubbock, Texas

    51.9

    5

    96

    95

    87

    Phoenix, Arizona

    51.8

    78

    58

    70

    88

    Tulsa, Oklahoma

    51.2

    7

    94

    97

    89

    San Jose, California

    51.1

    87

    44

    58

    90

    Anchorage, Alaska

    51

    62

    90

    67

    91

    Stockton, California

    50.1

    77

    50

    94

    92

    San Francisco, California

    49.4

    96

    52

    43

    93

    Riverside, California

    49.4

    95

    59

    37

    94

    San Diego, California

    48.3

    99

    70

    28

    95

    Miami, Florida

    47.7

    69

    100

    20

    96

    Henderson, Nevada

    46.2

    92

    68

    54

    97

    Bakersfield, California

    45.8

    88

    57

    92

    98

    Austin, Texas

    45.3

    71

    99

    41

    99

    Memphis, Tennessee

    45.2

    36

    92

    100

    100

    Fresno, California

    43.9

    83

    88

    86


    Summary

    Our analysis found that St. Paul, Minnesota is the best city for digital nomads. It scored well for factors in both the living costs category and the working experience category. In particular, it has one of the fastest WiFi speeds of any city analyzed. 

    Arlington, Texas, Tampa, Florida, Chandler, Arizona, and Boston Massachusetts round out the top five best cities.

    At the other end, our bottom five cities are Fresno, California, Memphis, Tennessee, Austin Texas, Bakersfield, California, and Henderson, Nevada. These cities (with the exception of Memphis) scored poorly on cost of living factors.

    Looking for digital work? Check out these remote data entry jobs.


    Methodology

    To find the cities which are best for digital nomads, we looked at data for 100 of the largest cities in the United States. We analyzed and ranked the cities using three major categories:

    • Living Costs
    • Working Experience
    • Living Experience

    Each city was graded on an 130-point scale, meaning a score 130 represents the ideal city for digital nomads. Each factor was scored on a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the best for that specific factor.

    Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all categories to calculate our data and used the results to rank-order our sample.

    27.5 points

    • Average gas price—1.5 Weight
    • Short-term rental costs (average Airbnb costs)—1.25 Weight

    55 points

    • Availability of coffee shops (number of coffee shops per 100,000 people)—1.75 Weight
    • Availability of coworking spaces (number of coworking spaces per 100,000 people)—1.75 Weight
    • WiFi speeds (average Mbps download speed)—Double Weight

    20 points

    • Availability of restaurants, bars, and entertainment (number of establishments per 100,000 people)—Double Weight
    • Availability of short-term rentals (average number of Airbnbs per 100,000 people)—1.25 Weight
    • Crime (crime rate per 100,000 people)—1.25 Weight

    Sources

    • U.S. Census Bureau
    • U.S. Census, County Business Patterns
    • Yelp
    • Coworker.com
    • Highspeedinternet.com
    • Alltherooms.com
    • Neighborhood Scout
    Editorial Contributors
    avatar for David Cusick

    David Cusick

    David specializes in data, data journalism, and all topics related to homeownership. He’s won multiple national awards for content marketing and comes from strong background in journalism. His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, CNN, Buzzfeed, Business Insider, Good Morning America, ESPN, and many more.

    Learn More

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    Lora Novak

    Senior Editor

    Lora Novak meticulously proofreads and edits all commercial content for Today’s Homeowner to guarantee that it contains the most up-to-date information. Lora brings over 12 years of writing, editing, and digital marketing expertise. She’s worked on thousands of articles related to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, roofing, plumbing, lawn/garden, pest control, insurance, and other general homeownership topics.

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