May 3, 2024 Bellevue, CA & Frisco, TX, Lead US’s Remote Work Boom

The remote work surge empowers 18M Americans, with Bellevue, CA & Frisco, TX, at the forefront.

One of the most impactful and farthest-reaching job market changes we have experienced over the past few years is, without a doubt, the transition toward remote or hybrid work. If such positions were very rare and exotic before the pandemic, nowadays almost 12% of the workforce in the United States, or approximately 18M employees, are working from home either permanently or occasionally.

However, not all jobs and not all cities in the US are created equal in terms of WFH opportunities. Some sectors of the economy and certain places across the country do provide a much higher chance of getting access to a coveted working-from-home position. So, which jobs and which US cities are the most interesting for those planning to pursue a remote career?

From tech workers to lawyers or realtors, these jobs have around a quarter of employees working from home

Information-related jobs are the cream of the crop when it comes to working from home, with positions such as tech and telecommunication workers or those in media publishing accounting for the highest  share of people working from home. Almost 26% of all the people employed in these branches get to enjoy their home office daily or a few days per week.

Professional, scientific, and management sectors, which incorporate lawyers, architects, and other liberal professions, researchers and scientists, and managerial positions as well, rank second for the prevalence of remote work in their respective branches. A neat quarter of all the employees in these major sectors of the economy manage to do their jobs remotely.

The third best career paths for the share of remote workers are finance, insurance, and real estate jobs. Approximately 24% of employees in these sectors have transitioned to remote work arrangements, underscoring the notable shift in traditional office dynamics we experienced in recent years.

Bellevue, CA, and Frisco, TX, are dominating the remote working trend

But where exactly in the US is the work-from-home scene the strongest? After analyzing employment-related data in all US cities with a population of over 50,000 individuals, several locations in the Pacific Northwest region, the South, or California are emerging as remote work hubs.

Belleview, WA, and Frisco, TX, rank first nationally in terms of share of remote workers out of the total number of local employees. About 30% of the workforce in these cities manage to do their jobs from the comfort of their own homes. The remote working scene in both Bellevue and Frisco is bolstered by the dynamic local economies and the presence of numerous tech companies.

Cary, NC, ranks third nationally for remote workers prevalence, with 28% of the workforce in the city switching a downtown office in favor of the home office. Conveniently located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area, where scientific and technological jobs abound, it’s only natural to see Cary as one of the country’s best cities for remote work prospects.

Other cities where a substantial share of the employees jumped onto the remote work bandwagon include Berkeley, CA, Fremont, CA, Boulder, CO, and Seattle, WA.  

Working from home comes not only with advantages but with challenges as well

These remote workers enjoy an entire host of obvious perks, such as skipping the daily commute, having a bit of flexibility when it comes to work hours, and having a work environment adjusted to their personal needs and preferences. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Carving up space at home for the work setup can be a major challenge, particularly when it comes to families with children or people sharing their apartments with roommates.

People usually have to rearrange their belongings and furniture to ensure there’s space for their desks, office chairs, and the other components of an efficient home office setup. One smart way to come up with that space is by storing some of the items not used on a daily basis away from home, in a self storage unit. Whether it’s seasonal items, collectibles, sports equipment, baby items, furniture and appliances you don’t necessarily use right now but want to hold on to for the future, a self storage unit ensures the right environment for safe, long-term storage. Freeing up extra space at home helps remote workers reconfigure their interiors so they have a dedicated work area that allows proper focus and ensures productivity.

As we navigate this evolving remote work landscape, effective home organization is essential, fostering a seamless integration of work and life within the comfort of our own spaces.

Maria Gatea is a real estate and lifestyle editor for StorageCafe with a background in journalism and communication. After covering business and finance-related topics for 15 years, she is now focusing on researching and writing about the self storage industry.

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