Overheard on Conference Calls Names Best U.S. Cities for Digital Nomads

What used to be called a telecommuter has a snazzy, new millennial-friendly name: the digital nomad. Visions of these remote workers may have them perched at beach huts mooching off the free WiFi or spending hours at their favorite neighborhood café without a worry in the world, remote work is becoming increasingly common and often involves setting up an in-home office or joining a coworking space. If you find yourself lucky enough to have a job that lets you work from anywhere in the United States, here are the best cities that cater to the needs and desires of digital nomads.

The cities are ranked based on average WiFi speed across the entire metro area, the number of coffee shops per capita, number of coworking spaces, overall cost of living, potential savings from working from home compared with commuting and other factors.

The winner may come as a surprise, Kansas City, Mo., but with a low cost of living and some of the fastest WiFi in the country, Kansas City definitely tips the scales in these categories, which counted twice according to the creators of the analysis, Overheard on Conference Calls.

Second place goes to Salt Lake City, Utah, followed by Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and San Antonio, Texas. While New York City may seem like a formidable component, its ranking at No. 49 is largely due to the high cost of living.

At the other end of the spectrum are the country’s worst cities for remote working. These dishonors go to Memphis, Tennessee; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Birmingham, Alabama.