For millions of Americans, the daily commute has disappeared—and so have the boundaries around where to live. Remote work has turned once-unlikely locations into real homebuying contenders, shifting demand from city cores to suburbs, small towns, and scenic spots far from the office. Some buyers are chasing space, others lower costs, and many simply want a lifestyle that fits their new flexibility. This shift isn’t just a trend—it’s a rethinking of what home means when work no longer ties you to a desk downtown.
The Remote Work Revolution in Homebuying
Remote work has grown dramatically in recent years and is a key factor driving new homebuying trends. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 5% of U.S. workers primarily worked from home. By 2021, that share had tripled to nearly 18%, and even after some people returned to offices, it remained around 15% in 2022. This means tens of millions of Americans now have jobs not tied to a physical workplace. With a reliable internet connection, these workers can do their jobs from virtually anywhere.
This newfound flexibility is fueling mobility. People who can work from home are far more likely to consider moving. In mid-2021, a Zillow survey found that workers with remote options were nearly twice as likely to say they would consider moving because of the pandemic’s changes. In fact, 23% of remote or hybrid workers said they were interested in moving, compared to just 13% of those who worked in person full-time. Many who had been “locked in” to high-cost cities for their careers began looking to relocate for a better quality of life or a lower cost of living. Zillow’s researchers dubbed this great migration the “Great Reshuffling,” as households rearranged themselves across the country.
Freedom from the Commute
Without a daily commute, commute time and distance suddenly matter a lot less. Homebuyers can prioritize things like affordability, space, and neighborhood preferences over just proximity to an office. A Zillow study noted that remote work is opening up housing opportunities nationwide, potentially the biggest expansion of housing flexibility in generations. Workers with location freedom can choose towns where they can afford a larger home or a yard – things that might have been out of reach in the priciest job centers.
Another reason is that many workers truly want to move when given the chance. Surveys show that the majority of employees enjoy the flexibility of working from home and do not want to be in the office five days a week. By 2021, over 80% of workers said they hoped to work remotely at least part-time going forward. Some even changed jobs to keep that flexibility. In one example, when Zillow announced a permanent remote-friendly policy for its own staff, the company saw employee relocation rates jump by 45% as workers seized the chance to move to new homes in new places.
The Exodus: Leaving Cities for More Space and Affordability
One of the clearest trends in the remote work era is people moving out of big cities toward suburbs, smaller cities, and rural areas. Data from the housing market backs this up resoundingly. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that in 2022 homebuyers moved a median distance of 50 miles from their previous home – three times farther than the historical norm of around 15 miles. That is a huge jump. It means the typical buyer was no longer just moving to the next neighborhood; they might have been moving to an entirely different part of their state or even across state lines.
Small Towns and Rural Areas Gain Appeal
Where were these remote-enabled buyers going? They were increasingly targeting smaller towns and rural areas in search of more house for the money. NAR’s data shows that the share of home purchases in small towns rose to 29% (a record high), and rural area purchases hit 19% (also a record) in the past year. Meanwhile, the proportion of purchases in urban city centers dropped to just 10%, down from prior years. In other words, remote work helped flip the script – suddenly more than half of home sales were outside of big cities, in low-density areas. Many families decided that if they could log in from anywhere, they’d like some fresh air and a bigger yard.
Price Growth Follows the Migration
Economic data reinforces this migration pattern. Home prices in traditionally affordable areas have soared under the remote work boom, a sign of surging demand. A report by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that from March 2020 to March 2023, typical home values jumped about 36% in smaller metros, lower-density suburbs, and rural counties, compared to only about 21% in the densest urban counties. Before the pandemic, price growth was much more even across regions (around 16–18% over three years everywhere). But once remote work took off, house values in the suburbs and countryside climbed faster than those in big cities, reflecting the wave of buyers flowing into those less populated areas.
Another striking study comes from Freddie Mac, which looked at home purchase data nationwide. It concluded that the pandemic “amplified existing urban deconcentration by threefold” – essentially tripling the rate at which homebuyers left large, expensive metro areas for smaller, more affordable places. This was an acceleration of a pre-pandemic trend (people were slowly drifting from high-cost cities to cheaper ones already), but remote work put that trend into overdrive.
Popular Destinations: “Zoom Towns” Emerge
Specific migration patterns underscore these shifts. Traditionally expensive job hubs like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles saw a high volume of residents moving away. Many of those leaving Los Angeles headed to Las Vegas, where home prices are roughly half what they are in L.A. Those leaving the Seattle area often went to Spokane, Washington – a smaller city where the typical home cost was about $430,000, nearly half of Seattle’s $800,000 median price. Popular destinations for movers in 2022 and 2023 included places like Sacramento, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Austin, TX; and many mid-size cities in Florida. What these locations tend to have in common is relative affordability (cheaper than the coastal metros people came from) and often more space or even lifestyle perks like warmer weather. Many even dubbed some of the trendy remote-work destinations “Zoom towns” – smaller cities or resort towns that saw an influx of remote workers.
To be clear, not everyone left the big city, and major urban centers are far from “emptying out.” But the balance shifted. During 2020–2022, the inflow of new homebuyers to rural and suburban counties was much higher than normal, while the biggest cities saw net outflows. This suburban boom seems to have lasting aspects. By late 2022, even as offices reopened, migration into less dense areas remained elevated compared to pre-pandemic baselines.
Generational Homebuying Trends in the Remote Work Era
Remote work’s impact on homebuying varies by generation. The trend has especially empowered younger adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s – primarily millennials and the oldest of Gen Z – who make up a large portion of today’s workforce able to work remotely.
Millennials Lead the Charge
Millennials (born roughly 1981–1996) are now in their prime homebuying years, and many of them have embraced remote work flexibility to seek out homes that fit their growing families. This generation was the largest group of homebuyers in recent years, and they have been willing to move long distances for affordability and space. Many millennial buyers during the pandemic moved out of expensive city apartments and into single-family homes in farther-out suburbs or cheaper regions, once their jobs no longer required commuting. For example, a common story was young parents moving closer to grandparents or relatives for support with childcare, thanks to remote work making such a move feasible. Family ties have indeed been a big factor – even as people moved farther overall, being near family remained a top reason behind destination choice.
Surveys confirm that younger workers highly value remote work and will make life changes to get it. About half of millennial and Gen Z workers say they would consider switching jobs if their employer wanted them in the office more than they liked. This strong preference means younger buyers are more likely to pick a location first (somewhere they truly want to live) and then find a remote job or keep a remote-friendly job that allows them to live there. It’s a reversal of the old pattern where people moved wherever the job was.
Gen Z: Just Getting Started
The oldest Gen Zers (born in the late 1990s) are just starting to buy homes, though they are a small share of the market so far. Many in Gen Z are early-career and some prefer the social aspect of an office, so they are actually less likely to have fully remote jobs right now. In fact, data shows the age group least likely to apply for remote jobs is 20–24 year-olds – perhaps because younger workers value in-person mentorship or live in cheaper areas already. That means Gen Z’s impact from remote work is a bit limited today. However, some Gen Z buyers are indeed choosing to live in cheaper locales than previous cohorts did, partly thanks to flexible work.
Older Generations Join the Movement
Older generations are part of the story too. Gen X (40s and 50s) and even some Baby Boomers have also benefited from remote work options. Many Gen X homeowners were already established in suburbs, but those who weren’t sometimes took the opportunity to move to their “dream location” once work was flexible. For example, an empty-nest Gen X couple with remote jobs might sell their home in a high-cost Northeast suburb and relocate to a quieter, lower-cost state where they eventually plan to retire.
The multigenerational home trend ticked up recently – 17% of buyers in a 2022 survey purchased a multigenerational home (for adult children, parents, or grandparents living together), the highest share on record. Remote work can facilitate this by allowing people to move in with family without giving up employment. Baby Boomers, many of whom are at or near retirement, generally already own homes, but some later-career Boomers who are able to work remotely have been relocating to their preferred retirement areas a bit early while still working.
Corporate Remote Work Policies and Relocation Patterns
While remote work enabled many moves, the choices companies make about allowing remote or requiring office time have a big influence on relocation patterns. Corporate remote work policies vary widely, and they can either encourage or restrict employees’ ability to move far away.
From Fully Remote to Hybrid Models
In the early phase of the pandemic, many companies went fully remote by necessity. This gave workers the green light to move practically anywhere. Some big tech firms and other employers even announced that employees could permanently work from home, which led to a flood of relocations in 2020 and 2021. Policies like that prompted some workers to make major moves – say, from a cramped San Francisco apartment to a spacious house in Boise, Idaho – without worrying they’d be called back to headquarters.
However, by late 2022 and into 2023, the pendulum began to swing back slightly. More employers started firming up hybrid work policies or even mandating part-time office returns. Prominent companies (from Wall Street banks to tech giants) announced that employees needed to come in a few days a week. This shift has made it “less feasible to work remotely” for some. In practical terms, if your company expects you in the office two or three days a week, you can’t very well move 1,000 miles away. You might still move to a cheaper area, but probably one within a reasonable commute of the office.
The Impact on Long-Distance Moves
Redfin reported in late 2023 that the share of homebuyers relocating to a different metro area had dipped slightly from its peak, partly because employers calling workers back to offices slowed down the flow of long-distance moves. For example, moves from the Bay Area to far-off places like Austin or Boise have slowed compared to the height of the pandemic. Some people who dreamed of moving anywhere now have to stay within a few hours’ drive of their workplace if they have hybrid schedules.
Still, hybrid work means many employees only commute infrequently, so they are willing to live farther out than before. A person who only goes to the office twice a month might tolerate living in a rural area 100 miles away, something they’d never do for a daily commute. So even hybrid policies allow a lot more geographic flexibility than the old Monday-through-Friday office routine.
The Future of Remote Work Policies
Many companies have also adopted “remote-friendly” hiring, meaning they will hire talent from anywhere and either have no office or regional hubs. As of 2024, an estimated one-quarter of all paid workdays in the U.S. are done from home, compared to about 7% before the pandemic. This suggests that remote work is here to stay at a significant (though not total) level. Notably, only about 31% of companies required full-time in-office attendance in early 2024, a share that has been declining as more firms embrace hybrid arrangements.
The push and pull of corporate policies will likely continue to shape relocation. If a company reverses remote work and demands everyone within commuting distance, some employees might have to sell their far-flung homes and move back. Others might choose to quit and find a new remote job instead – effectively taking their housing decision into their own hands. In this tug-of-war, flexible-work policies have an edge because employees clearly favor them.
A Look Ahead: Lasting Impacts and Future Predictions
As we look to the near future, the influence of remote work on where people buy homes is expected to continue, though it may evolve. The pandemic’s initial shock caused a one-time big shuffle; now the housing market is settling into a new normal where remote and hybrid work are simply part of the landscape. Experts predict that remote work will remain a significant driver of housing choices for years to come.
Steady Migration to Affordable Areas
One likely outcome is that the migration to affordable areas will persist, but perhaps at a slower, steadier rate. In late 2023, Redfin noted that the share of relocating homebuyers, while down from its peak, was still above pre-pandemic levels (about 24% vs. ~19%). This indicates a permanent shift – Americans are now more open to moving long distances than they used to be. As mortgage rates and home prices eventually stabilize, more of those who delayed moves might finally act on their remote-enabled relocation plans.
Housing Development Responds
Another trend to watch is how housing development responds. With increased demand in suburbs and small towns, there may be more construction in those areas to accommodate growth – new homes in the exurbs, more sprawling communities, and so on. Urban areas may need to reinvent some of their office spaces into residential or mixed-use, as the demand for being in the city five days a week is not what it once was. We’re already seeing some downtown offices struggle with vacancies, while homes in outer areas stay in high demand.
Economic Implications
Economically, remote work probably contributed to the sharp rise in home prices during 2020–2022 by boosting demand. Some economists estimate that a significant portion of the price growth in that period can be attributed to buyers having new flexibility on location (and thus increasing competition for homes in cheaper markets). Going forward, if remote work remains widespread, it will continue to prop up housing demand even if the economy slows, because people will keep relocating for cheaper or better housing.
The Generational Ripple Effect
We should also consider the generational ripple effect. Younger millennials and Gen Z entering the market will have never known a working world without Zoom and remote job postings. They may take for granted that they can job-hop and live where they please. This could lead to a sustained preference for smaller cities, college towns, or more rural lifestyles among a segment of buyers, which was less common for young professionals in past decades.
Market Equilibrium
In the coming years, we may see the housing market find equilibrium: the “Zoom towns” that boomed might cool off slightly as their prices have risen (making other areas the next targets for remote workers seeking bargains). Already, some remote-friendly hotspots like Boise or parts of Florida saw such price surges that affordability there is now tighter, which can slow inbound migration. A Redfin report noted that popular destinations like Sacramento saw home prices jump over 30% since before the pandemic, far more than prices rose in the coastal cities people left. That erodes some of the advantage of moving. So remote workers today have to cast their nets a bit wider to find the next affordable haven.
Conclusion: A New Era of Homebuying Freedom
Overall, remote work has rewritten the playbook for American homebuyers. It broke the age-old link between job location and home location for a large segment of the workforce. This has led to more spread-out housing demand, revitalization of some areas, and challenges in others. Families have more choices of where to live than perhaps ever before.
The next decade will reveal just how permanent these changes are. Will the U.S. see a long-term shift to a more distributed population, with less concentration in a few big metros? Early signs point to yes, at least to some degree. Remote work isn’t the only factor in where people move – affordability, family, climate, and personal preference all matter too – but it has become a powerful enabler of choice.
For homebuyers, the takeaway is this: You may have more freedom than before to decide where your home will be. The pandemic showed that work and home no longer have to be in the same place. Many Americans have seized that freedom to find homes in places that make them happier, whether that’s a house in the mountains, a suburban neighborhood with good schools, or a small town near family. Going forward, remote work will keep influencing the housing landscape, giving people the opportunity to live where they truly want to live – and that is a profound change with lasting impact on American life.
References
- U.S. Census Bureau – Commuting in the United States: 2022 – American Community Survey Brief (Feb 2024)
- Redfin – The Pandemic-Driven Migration Boom Is Waning, With the Share of Homebuyers Relocating at Lowest Level in 18 Months – Redfin News (Dec 29, 2023)
- Redfin – A Record Share of Homebuyers Are Relocating, Many to Places Endangered By Climate Change – Redfin News (Sep 26, 2023)
- Joint Center for Housing Studies (Harvard) – Rural Areas Saw Disproportionate Home Price Growth During the Pandemic (May 16, 2024)
- National Association of REALTORS® – Buyers Moving Farther Than Ever in Search of Affordability – REALTOR® Magazine (Nov 9, 2022)
- Zillow – Remote Work Will Fuel Housing Demand for Years to Come – Zillow Research (Sep 16, 2021)
- AI Home Design – NAR’s 5-Year Research on Home Buyers & Sellers: Key Insights
- OfficeSpace Software – 10 Important Hybrid Work Statistics to Know in 2024
- US Career Institute – 50 Eye-Opening Remote Work Statistics for 2024
- Gallup – Global Indicator: Hybrid Work
