Best States for Working from Home (2026)

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses shifted to remote work in order to continue operating. Although daily life has returned to normal, a significant number of employers have maintained flexible arrangements. In fact, 12% of full-time employees work fully remote, while another 27% follow a hybrid schedule that splits time between home and the office.

As remote opportunities become more common, not everyone has an ideal setup for working from home. Strong remote-work conditions typically include affordable living costs, a comfortable home environment, and reliable security.

Where you live can play a big role in how easy it is to work remotely. To determine which states offer the best work-from-home conditions, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia using 12 key metrics. The analysis looks at factors such as the percentage of people working remotely, internet costs, and cybersecurity, along with home size and household crowding.

Main Findings

Best States for Remote Work

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that category.

In-Depth Look at the Best States for Working From Home

Utah

Utah is the best state for working remotely, and it has one of the lowest electricity prices in the country, which plays a big part in minimizing the cost of staying home all day. It also has reasonable internet costs, and the third-highest share of households with broadband internet.

One place where Utah stands out that many people probably don’t think about is home square footage. Utah has the biggest homes in the country, at an average of 2,459 square feet. This helps prevent people from feeling cooped up while they are working from home.

Currently, 18% of Utah’s workforce works from home, but over 95% could do their jobs from home in the future.

Delaware

Delaware is the second-best state for working from home, with 15% of the workforce currently doing so and nearly 97% having the potential to.

Delaware has the 9th highest broadband-internet access and for people who do have internet, nearly 97% have access to internet speeds over 25 mbps, which should provide a smooth work-from-home experience in most cases.

The First State also has the ninth-highest average home square footages in the country, at 2,064 square feet. Homes aren’t particularly crowded, either. The median amount of square footage per person is above 832 square feet.

Connecticut

Connecticut is the third-best state for working from home, with the cheapest internet prices in the country and very high access to broadband internet. Solid internet is essential for working from home. With an average home size exceeding 1,950 square feet, Connecticut State ranks among the top half in the nation.

Currently, 16% of Connecticut’s workforce does work from home, but nearly 96% of the workforce has the potential to telecommute, meaning that their jobs could be conducted remotely.

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