Top 10 States for Job Hunters Seeking to Work Remotely

Texas is the state with the most job seekers who want to work remotely, says a new study by FlexJobs.

The online subscription service specializing in telecommuting and flexible jobs analyzed first-quarter 2015 job seeker data to identify the following top 10 states for work-from-home demand:

• Texas
• California
• Florida
• New York
• Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• Georgia
• North Carolina
• Colorado
• Maryland

“Work-life balance, family reasons and personal health are cited regularly as the main reasons people seek remote work, and the end result is usually happier employees that are also more productive for their companies,” said Sara Sutton Fell, FlexJobs founder and CEO. “And the good news for people who want to work from home is that technology, along with the shifting attitude of employers, has created many great opportunities for job seekers.”

Working from home is also a money-saver for workers who forgo the gas, tolls, fares, parking fees and other costs associated with commuting. The biggest average annual savings from working remotely are in the District of Columbia ($14,264), New York ($11,974) and Maryland ($11,725). Even in South Dakota, where this advantage was the least in comparative terms, remote workers still saved an average of $7,100.

Workers in seven states match the list FlexJobs released earlier this year of the top 10 states where companies recruit the most state-based telecommuters:

• California
• Texas
• New York
• Florida
• Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• Georgia

Three states, North Carolina, Colorado and Maryland, have disproportionate numbers of job seekers interested in telecommuting compared to available telecommuting jobs, FlexJobs said.

While about 96 percent of telecommuting jobs require you to be in a specific place (a state, region or country), some telecommuting jobs are either nationwide or have no location requirements at all. So regardless of your location, telecommuting is a possibility.

The typical telecommuter, according Census data scoured by FlexJobs, is a 49-year-old, college-educated, salaried, nonunion employee in a management or professional role earning $58,000 a year working for a company with more than 100 employees.

FlexJobs also found people from various demographics are interested in telecommuting or flexible positions, such as working parents, millennials, semi-retirees, military spouses, people with disabilities, and caregivers.

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