Best U.S. Cities for Workcations

Last updated on 04/20/2022

Best US Cities for Workcations

“Workcation” is a term that has gained traction in the last couple of years. According to The Boutique Vibe, “a workcation means taking a short break from your regular working routine but still being able to fulfil your employment obligations and resting at the same time.” Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic many employers have been allowing employees to work from home, which essentially gives workers the freedom to work from anywhere.

While this new corporate culture cuts the ties to traditional office settings for many employees, there are still factors that should be considered for workers to effectively perform and maintain productivity. InsureMyTrip examined specific data points related to work and play to create our list of the top U.S. cities to visit for a workcation.

Best U.S. City for a Workcation

Key Findings

With the average daily cost of an Airbnb of $141, and an average rating for top attractions of 4.68/5 stars on Google, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the best city for a Workcation. In second place is Salt Lake City, Utah, with a rating of 4.81/5 stars for quality of co-working spaces. In third place is Boise, Idaho, with the best rated coffee shops at 4.7/5 stars on Google, and have a high score of 4.67/5 stars for top attractions.

If accommodation is an important part of your destination decision, the top five cities for internet coverage, with 98% of Airbnbs in the area having internet are: Portland, Oregon, Ohio, Columbus, Seattle Washington, Denver, Colorado, and San Jose, California. In terms of the cheapest Airbnbs though, first is Cleveland, Ohio at $130/day, second is St. Louis, Missouri at $132/day, rounding off the top three is Portland, Oregon at $134/day.

If your main concern is your ability to work effectively whilst away from home, the cities of Indianapolis, Indiana and Baltimore, Maryland, each have highly rated co-working spaces, with an average of 4.9/5 stars on Google. In addition, New York has the fastest internet download speed with 581.7 mbps.

If the vacation element of a workation is the most important to you, West Palm Beach, Florida has the best rated coffee shops with an average of 4.64/5 stars on Google. Salt Lake City, Utah has the best rated attractions with an average of 4.7/5 stars on Google.

Methodology

Each data point consists of the latest research available from reputable sources. All sources are city specific level data points. The data was standardized using minmax normalization. The minmax normalization value is multiplied by 10 to create a score (between 0-10). A score of 10 is always the best result, while a score of 0 is the worst. Each city is then ranked on their overall rating across all data points, to find which city is the best for a workcation.

If the chosen city didn't have ratings for at least 10 co-working spaces, they were removed from that section.

Sources

  • Average Internet Speed

    We took the average download speed for each city from Broadband Now. https://broadbandnow.com/

  • Average Cost of an Airbnb

    Using the tool AirDNA, we took the average daily cost of an Airbnb in each city. https://www.airdna.co/

  • Airbnbs with Internet Access

    Using AirDNA, we took the percentage of Airbnbs with internet access in each city. https://www.airdna.co/

  • Quality of Coffee Shops

    Average rating of the top 20 coffee shops in each city. https://google.com

  • Quality of Attractions

    Average rating of the top 20 attractions in each city. https://google.com

  • Quality of Co-working Spaces

    Average rating of the top 10 co-working spaces in each city. https://google.com