These U.S. Towns Are Offering Up to $20K for Remote Workers Who Want to Relocate

After the pandemic hit and many workers began working from home full time, the desire for a change of scenery surely became stronger than ever as weeks in quarantine turned into months at home. Whether you’re working remotely for the foreseeable future or want a fresh start altogether in a new city, plenty of locations across the U.S. have been offering digital nomads pretty sweet incentives to relocate — and one company tracked them all down.

MakeMyMove.com, an online directory that launched during the pandemic in December 2020, aims to connect remote workers with potential new landing sites across the country, making it seamless for workers to find the location that best suits their needs, desires, and preferences. 

The directory has grown since its initial launch and now features 45 communities offering incentives such as home buying allowances, tax credits, and discounts, gift cards, or money toward local goods and services, or straight up cash for those who move in. Whether you have your heart set on a specific state or region or the list simply strikes inspiration for a short- or long-term move, each location is offering something to attract new residents and build up the local economy, as many places have seen population decline in recent decades due to companies settling in big cities.

For people who don’t need to be located near their places of work, it could mean putting down roots in a place they’d never quite considered before, while also earning cash or other incentives to help cut down on relocation costs.

As for current programs available, there’s something for everyone. Morgantown, West Virginia, is currently offering nomads who love the outdoors and dream of living nestled within the Appalachian mountains $12,000 in cash plus gifts worth up to $8,000. Remote workers who settle in Montpelier, Vermont, can snag up to $5,000 per year for stays of up to two years, while applicants who become a full-time employee of a Vermont business are eligible for up to $7,500. If Las Vegas is more your speed, you’ll receive unlisted amenities given by the city to post up among its sprawling desert backdrop.

If none of the current locations speak to you, don’t worry. The co-founders are always on the hunt for inspiration, creating a “Design Your Own” feature that lets prospective applicants list their dream location as well as desired relocation incentive package. Co-founder Eric Hock told CNBC that it allows his team to connect with local economic development programs, in hopes to expand programs where there is high demand.

“For example, if we get a half dozen folks saying, ‘I’m looking for a lake community in the Southeast,’ we can go out, find it and negotiate an offer for them,” Hock told CNBC. “It’s a way for us to collect data and see opportunities to find a specific landing spot for each remote worker.”

The site’s popularity represents a larger shift from cities focusing on bringing big companies to their area codes by inviting individuals from all industries, potentially promoting long-term growth and economic prosperity. “When you recruit a new worker into the community,” Hock told CNBC, “you get their tax revenues, their spending in the local economy. As communities dig into the math, they’ll see these remote workers are enormously valuable.”