These NC cities have among the largest share of remote workers in the US. Here’s why
Three North Carolina cities have some of the largest shares of remote workers in the country.
That’s according to a new report from Coworking Mag, a digital publication focusing on coworking topics.
The publication used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to rank which metropolitan statistical areas have the highest percentages of remote workers, and which had the biggest changes in remote working populations. The report considered 109 metropolitan areas with a population of over 500,000, with a complete set of data.
Which NC cities have the highest shares of remote workers?
Three North Carolina cities, including two in the Triangle, had some of the largest percentages of remote workers in 2023.
- No. 1: Austin, Texas
- No. 2: Raleigh, North Carolina
- No. 3: Denver, Colorado
- No. 4: Washington, D.C.
- No. 5: Charlotte, North Carolina
- No. 6: Portland, Oregon
- No. 7: San Francisco, California
- No. 8: Seattle, Washington
- No. 9: Durham, North Carolina
- No. 9: Tampa, Florida
- No. 10: Phoenix, Arizona
Can you work remotely in Raleigh/Durham?
In Raleigh, nearly a quarter of the working population, 24.5%, were remote workers in 2023. The share of remote workers was just 0.5 percentage points below that of Austin, Coworking Mag found.
According to the publication, Raleigh offers an opportunity for workers to avoid “tedious” commutes and houses employers in tech, science, research, professional and business services, education and health, which all allow for remote work.
Raleigh’s high ranking in the Coworking Mag report is in line with data from previous years. The Raleigh-Cary metro area had the fifth-highest portion of remote workers among 57 of the largest metro areas in the U.S. in 2021, The News & Observer reported last year. The percentage of the area’s workforce who had remote jobs increased from about 10% in 2019 to more than 30% in 2021.
Another Triangle city, Durham, made the top 10, tied at No. 9 with remote workers adding up to 19.5% of the city’s workforce in 2023. Durham “is a hotspot for innovation and enticing career opportunities” and the only mid-sized metro in the Coworking Mag ranking.
The Research Triangle is known for its private companies such as SAS Institute and Epic Games, but remote working opportunities are available for government positions, too, and some of them offer six-figure salaries.
Can you work remotely in Charlotte?
Charlotte rounded out the top five with a remote working population comprising 21.5% of the city’s workforce last year. Coworking Mag wrote that the high percentage likely results from employers in the banking, financial services, health and technology industries that offer fully remote or hybrid positions.
In addition to having one of the highest shares of remote workers, Charlotte also claims one of the largest increases in the percentage of remote workers since 2014.
Coworking Mag found that nationally, 4.5% of the workforce worked remotely in 2014. That percentage jumped to 13.8% in 2023, while peaking at 17.9% in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charlotte’s work-from-home population was 5.1% of the city’s workforce in 2014, but last year, the percentage had reached 21.5%. That represents a 322% increase, according to Coworking Mag, ranking it No. 7 among U.S. metros with the highest percent change in remote working populations over the period.
Is Cary NC an affordable city to work remotely?
CoworkingCafe, an online directory of coworking spaces operated by real estate technology provider Yardi, has recognized Cary as one of the most affordable places for remote workers in the U.S., The N&O previously reported.
According to the Census Bureau’s data from 2022, the work-from-home population in Cary was estimated to be 41.4% of the city’s workforce. The city’s share of remote workers is higher than those of the cities mentioned in Coworking Mag’s recent report, but the population of Cary is estimated at just over 180,000, well below the 500,000 threshold used in the Coworking Mag ranking.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 12:17 PM with the headline "These NC cities have among the largest share of remote workers in the US. Here’s why."
