Once-affordable towns across America are being priced out of their own identities as remote workers with big-city salaries flood in.
The promise of the “digital nomad” lifestyle was intoxicating: work from anywhere, trade the cubicle for a mountain view, and find a better quality of life. You’ve probably seen the pictures on social media of a laptop perched perfectly on a rustic porch overlooking the ocean. It sold a dream of freedom, flexibility, and escape from the urban rat race. For millions of Americans, the pandemic made this dream a sudden reality.
But that freedom came at a steep price, just not for the person working from the porch. For the locals in these ” undiscovered” towns, the influx felt more like an invasion. The arrival of high-wage remote workers, spending San Francisco salaries in towns with Tennessee wages, has irrevocably changed the fabric of these communities. What was once affordable and quirky is now exclusive and out of reach for the people who built it.
Sacramento, California
For decades, Sacramento was the sleepy state capital, the affordable and slightly boring neighbor to the glamorous Bay Area. When the pandemic normalized remote work, Bay Area residents realized they could keep their six-figure salaries and “cash out” in Sacramento. The resulting migration was a gold rush in reverse…