According to a study conducted by SmartAsset.com, Midland, Texas has ranked near the bottom among 344 cities across the nation for people working from home. The study revealed that only 5.5% of workers in Midland are working remotely, which is significantly lower than the national average of 15.7%. In fact, Midland ranked second to last in West Texas in terms of remote work.
Odessa, another city in West Texas, also fared poorly in the rankings, with only 3.8% of its workers working remotely. This placed Odessa second from the bottom across the entire country. The study considered cities with populations of 100,000 or more, and the data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 1-Year American Community Survey for 2022.
In addition to Midland and Odessa, other West Texas cities included in the study were El Paso, Abilene, Amarillo, and Lubbock. El Paso ranked 276th with 9.2% of its workers working remotely, while Abilene ranked 292nd with 8.3%. Amarillo and Lubbock both ranked at the bottom, with each city having 6.3% of its workers working remotely.
The report from SmartAsset.com highlighted the potential benefits of remote work, stating, "With the most recent U.S. Census Bureau designating the average commute time to work across large cities at 25 minutes, remote workers may save four hours per week or more compared to their in-person counterparts."
Although the study revealed a low percentage of remote workers in Midland and other West Texas cities, it is important to note that remote work has become increasingly popular in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote work practices, allowing employees to work from the comfort of their own homes. However, it seems that Midland and other cities in the region have some catching up to do when it comes to embracing this trend.