What’s the best city in the world for remote workers? Nope, wrong. Try again. Uh-uh, still wrong. Because according to a study from IcelandAir (no word on whether it’s been peer-reviewed), the winner of the best US city to work remotely is Kansas City, MO.
Icelandair ranked 150 global cities on seven criteria, ranging from quality of life to internet speed and placed Kansas City at the top. The midwest dark horse didn’t rank #1 in any single category, but did well enough across a range of them to finish first. The city’s slower lifestyle also works in its favor. There are some great reasons to travel to major metropolitans such as New York or London, but few people head there to relax.
There are some great runners-up, though. Number two? Vienna, another city that is known for its affable lifestyle. It’s no surprise that the Austrian capital is a frequent winner of surveys of the most livable cities in the world. Wellington (New Zealand), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Edinburgh (UK) rounded out the top five. Australia also gets kudos for having two cities, Perth and Brisbane, in the top ten.
How About Reykjavik?
Since it was an Icelandair study, you might expect Reykjavik to do well, and you wouldn’t be wrong, with the Icelandic capital showing up at #12. Naturally, “air pollution” was one of its strongest categories.
For those looking for a cheap trip between North America and Europe, Icelandair is always an inexpensive option. Its flights are generally limited to major cities on each continent, but they have several codeshare partners, including airBaltic, SAS, Finnair, JetBlue and Alaska. An added bonus is that you can take a free stopover in Iceland if you want to extend your trip.
Planning Your Workation to Kansas City
If you’re planning on visiting Kansas City, have your Rapid Rewards account ready, since Southwest carries almost 50% of the passengers that visit the city. Delta and American fill out the top three.
Perth. Western Australia.
KC? GTFOH. The weather is miserable all year, hot and humid in summer, very cold and covered in snow and ice in winter. If you’re working remotely, you don’t have to commute, which is great, but you’ll never want to leave your place most of the year. Absolutely freaking terrible place to work, remotely or otherwise. Great BBQ though, especially at Joe’s KC.
There are way more hot and humid places than K.C. I agree about the winter though. I get tired of all the snow.
Love and Miss KC!
Agree! I like in a Kansas City suburb.. I get 1G internet for $70/mo. I have 4 monitors in my home office.
Perth would definitely be better. I love Kansas city but as mentioned, it has terrible weather. It does offer a lot as far as entertainment. No mountains or ocean. Pretty when the leaves change though.
Perth is one of the most remote places on earth. Nice city but on the edge of the earth LOL. It is in Western Australia aka W.A. which is nicknamed “wait awhile” because it takes forever for things to get there…
If I need to wait then what better place to wait than Perth. We love it’s remoteness.
Kansas City has all four seasons, so yes the winter can be cold, but it’s not Chicago and the summer can be hot, but it’s not Austin. The fall and spring are gorgeous as frankly is the city. It’s beautiful with great neighborhoods, and friendly people. An undiscovered gem.
KC native here Mr Ott. Been a reader of GSP since the beginning too.
Kansas City is a horrible city to live in. OK to visit. But it is a dangerous city, full of crime and has one of the highest murder rates in the country. And the weather is either burning hot or ice cold all year. I guess for remote work it is OK if you rarely need to go outdoors. If you move there, you’ll want to live in Johnson County.