15 Affordable Small Towns in the US With Fast Internet for Remote Workers
With millions of Americans working from home during the COVID-19 crisis, there are plenty of tech and knowledge-industry workers looking around their tiny apartments in hot hub cities and saying, could I do bigger and better than this?
According to Global Workplace Analytics, a consultancy that helps firms design work-from-home strategies, 56 percent of the US workforce could work from home, and the number of regular work-from-home folks is likely to jump from 3.6 percent to 25 to 30 percent of the workforce by 2021. But according to a survey from WhistleOut, over a third of people say that lack of high-speed internet has prevented them from doing their work.
So let’s say you want to get away from the big city but keep your remote-working lifestyle in the fast lane. We found 15 attractive, affordable small towns and cities across America with gigabit internet connection options and reasonable housing prices-at least more reasonable than in tech hubs like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
We used data from Zillow and our partners at Ookla Speedtest to identify towns where Speedtest users verified 1Gbps connections in 2020, and where Zillow’s Home Value Index had an estimated home value of under $250,000 on Jan. 31, 2020. Using Census data, we narrowed it down to towns of under 10,000 that are not suburbs or exurbs of big cities. Then we cross-referenced with some lists of “best small towns” and tried to select places that were appealing.
Appomattox, VA
Population: 1,792
Gigabit ISP: Firefly Fiber ($79.99/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $146,906
Best known for being where the Civil War ended, Appomattox is a charming, historic town in central Virginia. Like with many of the cities on our list, the gigabit fiber here is provided by the local electric company, and you need to be careful about where you live — the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative’s lines cover some streets, but not others. The Digital Divide even exists within a small town.
Bisbee, AZ
Population: 5,209
Gigabit ISP: Sparklight ($125/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $134,376
A former copper-mining town near the Mexican border, Bisbee is a delightfully kooky, artsy little city with a preserved heritage downtown and far more restaurants and art galleries than a place its size ought to have. It’s a very popular day trip from Tucson, which is only about an hour and a half away.
Council Grove, KS
Population: 2,079
Gigabit ISP: TCT ($199.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $104,232
A historic stop on the Santa Fe Trail, Council Grove has two lakes, nature trails, and a riverside walkway. The local chamber of commerce tries to play up the town’s historic sites, but its top appeal appears just to be the peace and quiet of its classic Plains.
Diamondhead, MS
Population: 8,044
Gigabit ISP: C Spire ($80/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $165,574
An upscale and heavily golf-oriented resort community on the Gulf Coast, Diamondhead is right near Bay St. Louis (shown above), which Southern Living Magazine declared to be one of its favorite affordable small towns.
Jonesborough, TN
Population: 5,439
Gigabit ISP: Brightridge ($79.99/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $184,295
Appalachian culture is alive in Jonesborough, a regional cultural hub with a repertory theater, arts center, and a historic downtown with tours led by costumed reenactors. The annual National Storytelling Festival has led Jonesborough to declare itself the “storytelling capital of the world.” The Buffalo Mountain Park and Cherokee National Forest have extensive outdoors opportunities. Nearby Johnson City is a larger commercial hub surrounded by state parks.
Kenai, AK
Population: 7,778
Gigabit ISP: GCI ($174.99/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $242,404
GCI, Alaska’s dominant ISP, has been spreading gigabit service to surprisingly remote locations, including this peninsular city three hours south of Anchorage. You’ll pay for it, but that’s life in Alaska. According to locals, Kenai has good schools, friendly people, and a dramatic landscape. Just know you’ll have to deal with a lot of Anchorage vacationers in July.
Montour Falls, NY
Population: 1,619
Gigabit ISP: Empire Access ($65/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $113,643
The gorgeous (as in, full of gorges) Finger Lakes area of central New York has multiple dueling gigabit providers and a slew of picture-perfect small towns where you can take advantage of the fast connections. Montour Falls is one of the more affordable ones. It’s near wineries and a lakefront and a short drive to charming Corning and Ithaca, and it has a waterfall running through downtown.
Pawlet, VT
Population: 1,386
Gigabit ISP: Vermont Telephone ($69.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $225,247
Rural Pawlet, in the low, rolling Taconic Mountains, is a two-street farming town on the New York border, at least an hour and a half from anywhere. Vermont’s VTC offers not just gigabit symmetric connections but a 10Gbps plan if you’re willing to pay $399.95 per month.
Petoskey, MI
Population: 5,738
Gigabit ISP: Great Lakes Energy ($99.99/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $245,375
People are plenty passionate about pleasant Petoskey, a coastal resort in northern Michigan with a preserved Victorian downtown, beaches, and boating. It’s close to Traverse City, called one of the “best small towns in America” by Architectural Digest. Petoskey is expensive for northern Michigan — so expensive that the local low-wage workers can’t afford to live there — but it’s still much less expensive than many of the coastal cities from which tech workers may be coming.
Price, UT
Population: 8,232
Gigabit ISP: Emery Telecom ($64.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $195,371
Looking for dramatic natural beauty? It comes at a relatively low Price about two hours south of Salt Lake City. A mining town in central Utah, Price has a university with a Prehistoric Museum. It’s also close to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and Ninemile Canyon, which is covered with ancient art.
Rangely, CO
Population: 2,291
Gigabit ISP: Visionary ($70/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $199,954
Rangely is in an extremely rural part of Colorado near Dinosaur National Monument (shown above). If you want to be away from it all but near canyons with fossil hunting and rock climbing, this is the town for you. A nearby reservoir satisfies fishing and boating desires.
Salyersville, KY
Population: 1,729
Gigabit ISP: Foothills Communications ($129.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $64,830
Salyersville is an extremely quiet, low-key, tiny city in the Appalachians. There’s a lot of hiking you can do near there, and not much else, but locals say the town is friendly and community-oriented. There’s a lot of inexpensive, unbuilt land nearby on Zillow — you can get 42 acres for $30,000. But make sure to check with the local ISP first.
Shallotte, NC
Population: 4,287
Gigabit ISP: ATMC ($85.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $198,921
Shallotte is about halfway between Wilmington, North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and close to the coast. The town punches above its weight in terms of shopping and dining, as it’s the major commercial destination in its county. Golf is a big deal here, with 39 golf courses nearby.
Shiner, TX
Population: 2,169
Gigabit ISP: GVEC.net ($99.95/month)
Zillow Home Value Index: $183,208
A cute, compact small city, Shiner is best known for its Spoetzl Brewery, home to Shiner Bock beer. According to CultureMap Dallas, Shiner is rich in Czech-German heritage, with a “richness of culture” that extends into food and music traditions as well as its world-renowned brewing.
Taos, NM
Population: 5,971
Gigabit ISP: Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (service coming soon)
Zillow Home Value Index: $166,368
Taos is a legendary artists’ colony, home to a motley collection of former city folk who decided they wanted a small-town, hippie-artist vibe. New Mexico Magazine lists 25 reasons to love Taos. The local Kit Carson Electric Cooperative currently offers 250Mbps service, but it says a gig is coming soon.
All image credits: Shutterstock
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
