Illinois Is the 30th-Best State for Working From Home in 2026

“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 WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “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.”

In-Depth Look at Illinois

Overall, Illinois ranks 30th in the U.S. when it comes to its work-from-home conditions. However, there are two major facets of remote work, and the state ranks:

• 18th for its work environment, or how easy and safe it is to work from home
• 42nd for its living environment, which includes the comfort and cost of being at home during work hours

Illinois performs best when it comes to the share of workers who already work from home, where it ranks 17th. It also has the 18th-lowest price of internet per Mbps, which demonstrates that the state is doing a good job minimizing the costs of working from home.

Illinois performs worst when it comes to the average square footage of its home, only ranking 42nd. It's also in 42nd place for the median square footage per person in a household. Improving these factors may encourage more residents and companies to switch to work-from-home models in the future.

Best States for Working From Home

Nationally, 12% of full-time employees work remotely all the time, while another 27% follow a hybrid schedule that splits time between home and the office. While working from home can provide benefits and cut costs for employers and workers alike, the conditions for remote work vary drastically from state to state.

The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.