These NC cities rank among the nation’s best places to work remotely. Here’s why

North Carolina is home to two of the nation’s best places to work from home, a new report finds.

Raleigh ranks No. 2 and Durham is No. 5 on a list of cities offering “the perfect balance between comfort, value, leisure and remote work-readiness,” according to results published this month.

To create the list, the apartment website RentCafe said it studied “150 U.S. cities with the highest number of rental apartments.” Using data from the federal government and other resources, each place was evaluated in five categories: costs, environment, rental demand, renter comfort and “remote work readiness.”

The rankings were released as RentCafe said people who have the flexibility to do their jobs outside of the office have considered moving to new cities.

“If you’re going to upend your life and go through the trouble of moving across the country, you should choose your new location carefully,” the website wrote. “That’s why we created a unique index that shows you the cities in the U.S. where remote workers truly get the best value for their money, as well as the best features for a great work/life mix.”

Raleigh rose to the top of the list after earning high marks for having a setup that’s ready for remote workers. The city also received a nod for renter comfort, a category that considered the average apartment size and the presence of luxury units.

North Carolina’s capital city “scores 12th for the availability of high-quality apartments, as well as 13th in terms of access to broadband internet, thereby providing a reliable internet connection and great conditions for working from home,” RentCafe wrote in its report.

Also in the Triangle, Durham landed in the No. 5 spot after making its mark when it came to rental demand. That category weighed the presence of available apartments, including for shorter leases.

“Durham is the nation’s fifth-most desirable city for remote workers, boasting a high number of short-term rentals and a great selection of high-quality apartments,” RentCafe wrote. “Remote workers here can benefit from enticing job opportunities and comfortable living spaces.”

So, how did other North Carolina cities fare in the rankings? Other places making it into the top 50 were Charlotte at No. 12, Greensboro at No. 22 and Wilmington at No. 30.

Durham and Charlotte are no strangers to being named top destinations for working from home. Last month, both cities were recognized after the finance website SmartAsset weighed the portion of remote workers, unemployment trends and access to coffee shops, The Charlotte Observer reported.

In the latest rankings, the top-scoring place to work from home was Greenville, South Carolina. Rounding out the top five were two Florida cities: West Palm Beach and Tampa.

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