After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the only silver linings has been the ability for many to work remotely. While this presents its own challenges, one of the benefits is extended trips that would have been impossible while tethered to an office.
Unfortunately, internet access and speeds vary widely across the country. One report estimates that nearly 163 million Americans aren’t using the internet at broadband speeds — defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as 25 Mbps, and a bare minimum needed to work remotely.
We’ve written before about the best options for internet while traveling, but if you’re one of the growing number of digital nomads, telecommuting from wherever you’ve landed, and are willing to set up camp for a while in one city, you can find much stronger connections and the price is typically included in your rental.
On this page:
Our methodology
For this report, the Allconnect team analyzed internal data from 152,187 speed tests in the United States collected between October 2020 to April 2021. Data on provider plans and prices was gathered from the FCC. We also used the latest Census data to determine the percent of housing designated as vacation housing. Scores were weighted as follows:
- Percentage of housing designated as vacation housing: 35%
- Average download speed in the town: 40%
- Percentage of town covered by highest serviceable internet type: 20%
- Connection types available: 5%
Overall, the best places to work remotely tend to be smaller towns situated around larger cities. These usually have the best combination of vacation rentals, internet speed and extensive coverage.