Based on housing affordability and local fixed broadband speed, Zillow has ranked the country’s largest metro areas by their appeal for remote workers.

The highest ranking metros rank comparatively low for median home value and comparatively high on Speedtest’s “Speed Score,” is a weighted measure of mean download and upload speed that also considers low and high tier performance.

Chattanooga takes the number one spot with a blend of fast internet speeds [Speed Score 151.23] and affordable housing stock [$141,700 median home value that make working from home easy and appealing. Shreveport is number two and Kansas City places third. Five of the top 10 metros were located in the Southeast and three in the Southwest. The western U.S. was notably absent from the top 10.

…Sadly, the western U.S. loses out completely. Although left coast tech hubs like Silicon Valley and Seattle have access to internet speeds that make developers drool, high median home prices keep them out of the running. Instead, these digital strongholds could become the kinds of places that remote workers flee in the great rush toward more livable second cities.

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