Report ranked Mass. the 5th-best state for working from home. What do you think?
They say home is where the heart is, but when the pandemic reached the United States in 2020, home became where everything is, including, for many, the office.
As COVID-19 cases slow, more companies are calling their workers back — a relief for those itching for in-person interaction and heartbreaking for those who have reveled in the condensed commute from bed to desk.
Where you live may determine which camp you fall into, however. Not all states are created equal when it comes to remote work, according to a report WalletHub released Tuesday, which looked at data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to determine which states were the best for working from home.
Bay Staters planning to make in-person work a pre-pandemic memory are in luck: Massachusetts is the fifth best state to work from home in, according to the report.
New Jersey topped the list, thanks to its high percentage of residents with access to high quality, low-cost Internet service and its high percentage of workers who have the potential to work from home. Alaska came in at the bottom, a result of poor Internet access and cybersecurity and the high cost of electricity.
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Internet access is also what helped set Massachusetts apart. The state ranked No. 1 when it came to “Households’ Internet Access” — a metric that measured the share of households with a broadband Internet subscription, as well as the share of those with Internet speeds greater than 25 megabits per second.
Quality internet doesn’t mean exorbitant prices for Massachusetts residents, however. The Bay State also offers the 15th-lowest Internet costs in the country, according to the report.
Although No. 3 in the work environment category, Massachusetts was dragged down by a low living environment ranking (44th overall), thanks to the high cost of electricity, the low percentage of detached housing units, and the limited number of homes for sale with a lot greater than 1,000 square feet.
The top 10 locations to work-from home:
- New Jersey
- Washington D.C.
- Delaware
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Utah
- Texas
- Washington
- Maryland
- New York
Here’s how the other New England states ranked:
19. Rhode Island
25. New Hampshire
39. Maine
41. Vermont
We want to know what you think: Does Massachusetts deserve that ranking?
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