The 10 best U.S. cities for digital nomads to work from this summer

If you’re hoping to work remotely and travel within the U.S. this summer, you might want to avoid the coasts. 

The worst cities in the U.S. for digital nomads are mainly in California and Florida, while the best cities for people who travel freely while working remotely are clustered in the Midwest and the South, according to a May 2023 report from Zumper, an online real estate platform. 

Columbus, Ohio was named the top city for digital nomads in the United States, while Fort Lauderdale ranked last.

To determine the ranking, Zumper rated the 100 most popular cities in the U.S. on a host of factors including public transportation availability, the average cost of short-term rentals and air quality. 

Here are the top 10 U.S. cities for digital nomads:

1. Columbus, Ohio
2. Portland, Oregon
3. Kansas City, Missouri
4. Houston
5. St. Louis
6. Chicago
7. Cincinnati 
8. San Antonio
9. Detroit
10. Denver

Analysts say nomads should consider the Midwest, as cities like Kansas City, Cincinnati and St. Louis offer a lot of the things that are important to them, including an affordable cost of living, speedy WiFi and ample entertainment options.

Portland, Houston and Chicago have topped several lists highlighting the best cities for digital nomads, namely for having low housing costs and a high share of remote jobs that pay $100,000 per year or more.

New York and Los Angeles, meanwhile, didn’t even crack the top 20 best cities for digital nomads. Los Angeles comes in at No. 24, while New York City ranks No. 31, mostly due to their high cost of living.

The remote job market is shrinking in some cities, but flourishing in others. A recent paper from the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that Washington, D.C. is the best city to find a remote job in the U.S., followed by San Francisco and Chicago.

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