Wilmington lands a top spot as 'best value' city for remote workers, renters

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Mason Rhodes was living alone in an apartment in Washington, D.C.

With restrictions limiting where he could go and who he could see, he began to feel trapped as the pandemic’s uncertainty dragged on.

“The longer I was there, the more I felt trapped,” he said. “About three or four months in, I was like this is time for a major change. I gotta get out of this city.”

Rhodes, a 38-year-old North Carolina native, initially looked at moving to a more suburban part of the Washington, D.C., area, but he always kept a move to Southeastern North Carolina in the back of his mind.

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“I've always thought of Wilmington as a place I'd like to end up when I retire,” he said. “But I just kept coming back to it mentally and literally physically would come down here during the pandemic.”

In August 2020, Rhodes made the leap, leaving Washington, D.C., for Wilmington. He bought a home in the area and continued working remotely, doing contract work for the International Monetary Fund. He worked remotely for a year and a half before his contract ended. He was offered a renewal, conditioned on his return to Washington, D.C., but instead opted to remain in Wilmington as a remote worker.

He now works – still remotely – for Thermo Fisher Scientific as a project manager of the company’s building expansions worldwide.

Rhodes is one of the thousands of remote workers who have flocked to the Wilmington area in recent years. The trend, which is being seen in cities across the U.S., was fueled by workplace changes during the COVID-19 pandemic that shifted many formerly in-person jobs to remote positions.

A report released last month by RentCafe, a firm that collects data on commercial real estate, found the Southeastern U.S. – especially the Carolinas – offer remote workers the “best value” on rentals. Wilmington was named the No. 30 best city for remote workers, beating out 120 other cities.

The cities were ranked based on 19 factors that included the cost of living, apartments with short-term leases, rental demand, rental rates, coworking spaces, the percentage of remote workers and internet speed. The final city ranking was determined by combining the score from every category.

Wilmington ranked in the top 50 cities for several categories. The Port City ranked No. 30 for leisure based on a high number of good air quality days, sunny days and apartments with access to “sport amenities.”

Wilmington ranked No. 37 in the comfort category with an average apartment size of  940 square feet. The city’s apartment stock is also made up of a 29% share of high-end apartments and a 21% share of newly built apartments.

Finally, the city ranked No. 42 for rental demand. This ranking relied on two key metrics – a high rental demand and the area’s “robust” 67% occupancy rate for short-term rentals.

RentCafe’s top five best value cities for remote workers who rent are Greenville, S.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; West Palm Beach, Florida; Tampa, Florida; and Durham, N.C.

A recent study from Upwork, a California-based freelancing platform, shows that remote working is causing population shifts throughout the U.S. Around 4.9 million Americans say they’ve moved because of remote work since 2020 and another 18.9 million are planning a move.

Remote work has also been appealing to those already living in the Wilmington area for the flexibility it offers.

In June 2022, Mackenzie Morgan left her in-person job at a Wilmington wine store to work remotely for GuildSomm, a California-based membership organization for those who work in the wine industry.

Morgan, 27, does marketing and event planning for the nonprofit’s education division. Although she’s always looked for the flexibility of a remote position, before the pandemic Morgan didn’t think she’d be able to find a remote job working in the wine industry.

Morgan said she loves the flexible hours, which allow her to hold down a bartending job in downtown Wilmington and to travel to see family. During her time working remotely, she’s taken advantage of Wilmington’s coworking spaces, including Coworx in the Cargo District and South Front Street’s Common Desk.

“One thing I've loved about Wilmington is there's a lot of fun co-working spaces that I've hopped in and out of,” she said. “Just to be out of the apartment.”

Right now, Morgan occasionally works out of an office in the Cotton Exchange that she's renting out with two friends who also work remotely.

If given the chance, Morgan said she doesn’t think she would go back to an in-person job.

“It gives me the flexibility that I need for my schedule,” she said. “As long as I possibly can, I will stay remote.”

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington, NC, named a top city for remote workers