The most popular city for remote working in 2023 can be found right here in North Texas, according to LawnStarter.
The online marketplace for lawn maintenance and outdoor home services ranked the top 200 largest U.S. cities for best and worst places for the untethered, work-from-home crowd. Plano earned the top spot on the list of “2023’s Best Cities for Remote Workers.”
LawnStarter went fully remote during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and its workers have remained remote to this day.
Nine of the top 25 cities are in Texas, including five Dallas-Fort Worth communities.
Plano displaced Frisco, which stood in the number-one spot last year. Dallas, Carrollton, and McKinney are also in the top 25 ranks.
Public data was compiled for seven categories: financial incentives for telecommuters, earning potential, access to co-working spaces, internet quality, cost of living, safety, and amenities. LawnStarters calculated scores for each city in each category.
Factors influencing Plano’s placement in the number one spot included its spacious homes, widespread broadband coverage, and low crime rate. But it was Plano’s financial metrics and its affordability that made the most difference.
The affordability of Texas was what helped put the state of Texas on the map as a prime location for remote work. The lack of a state income tax and the low cost of living — rent and home prices — were massive attractions, for they allow workers to thrive when it comes to managing an at-home workspace.
While Dallas companies embrace the hybrid scheduling method, it is also one of the top cities in the United States for getting workers back to the office, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Raffaella Sadun, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, told LawnStarters some of the most effective ways for remote workers to stay creative.
She advised, “Find a way to do things that are not immediately related to day-by-day routines. Set broad goals and work toward ways to achieve them.”
Speaking of potential downsides to remotely working, Sadun said, “I think that the main issue with working from home is it’s easier to be either entirely distracted or entirely pulled into micro tasks for the sake of feeling productive.”
For best results, she added, “Creativity requires a middle ground that does not usually happen if we are constantly glued to our monitors.”