12 Worst States for Working From Home

Many American businesses have adopted a work-from-home structure during the pandemic. In a new report, WalletHub notes that people who are allowed to work from home may not always have the best environment in which to do so. It said the best work-from-home conditions include low costs, reasonable comfort and a high level of security, and these depend on where one lives. WalletHub researchers looked at the 50 states and District of Columbia to find out how easy it is to work from home across the U.S., comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across the dimensions of "work environment" and "living environment." Work environment metrics included the share of workers able to telecommute, the share of workers actually doing so, internet access and the number of internet-based crimes per capita. Living environments were graded on factors like home size and the cost of power and internet. The share of homes with swimming pools was given a small weight, too. They used 12 metrics, grading each one on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best infrastructure, then determined each state and the District's weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score. See the gallery for the 12 worst states for working from home.