A new study that compares internet speed and house prices to understand which states are best to work from home, has ranked California at the bottom of the top 10 list. This shocking result shows how the home of Silicon Valley suffers with internet speeds that are 23% slower than the U.S. average and real estate that is 125% more expensive than the average American home.
In fact, California has much slower internet speeds than States such as Delaware, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York.
It’s been reported that 49% of American’s are now working from home in some capacity, as a result many are leaving cities like San Francisco to escape their smaller apartments and the astronomical rents.
With slower than average internet for working at home and higher than average house prices, California is looking less attractive for traditional knowledge workers, especially in the tech sectors.
Compare this to “nearby” Utah, where not only is the internet faster but the real estate prices are 36% cheaper on average.
US residents are now sheltering in several states whilst being told to work from home due to the current global pandemic. This has meant having access to fast internet has gone from a “nice to have” to an absolute necessity and essential to maintain livelihood.
According to the state run county status tracker, over 20% of Californian counties are now categorised under the “Widespread” Covid19 level (4-7 cases per 100k) and 40% marked as “Substantial risk” areas (7+ cases per 100k). As such, many employers are asking employees to stay working from home for the foreseeable future.
With many of the great benefits of living in California being made unavailable, alongside several prominent Californian’s publicly announcing their move, it is thought that plenty of others will also follow suit and begin to look for a more “pandemic friendly” place to live.
Despite underperforming compared to the rest of America, California actually places 2nd highest on the West Coast, when it comes to internet speed and house prices.
Of all the states in the west, the league tables are:
| State | Avg. Peak Speed (Mbps) | % of Population Using Internet | Average House Prices |
| Utah | 60 | 88.1 | $351,100.00 |
| California | 58 | 77.8 | $550,800.00 |
| Washington | 58 | 80.3 | $393,800.00 |
| Oregon | 54 | 84.1 | $350,100.00 |
| Nevada | 49 | 77.8 | $291,800.00 |
| Colorado | 48 | 82.2 | $381,300.00 |
| Alaska | 48 | 76.8 | $326,000.00 |
| Arizona | 46 | 82.1 | $257,600.00 |
| Wyoming | 45 | 79.1 | $236,100.00 |
| Montana | 43 | 81.3 | $242,100.00 |
Max Beckett, internet expert at money.co.uk, said: “The demand for fast, reliable broadband is at an all time high. It’s interesting to see the impact internet speeds could be having on the real estate market.”
“Our data reveals that higher internet speeds may be pushing up the prices of homes across the country, with residents paying up to 79% more on homes that benefit from faster internet”.
In fact, Delaware and North Dakota are the only states where homeowners have access to affordable housing and faster wifi speeds, making them the best places for those looking for faster speeds and lower cost housing.
Homebuyers wanting to invest in property can compare internet speeds and house prices using the new Internet Housing Index.
The full money.co.uk Internet Housing Index can be found here: https://www.money.co.uk/guides/broadband-housing-index
This study was conducted by and should be attributed to financial comparison site money.co.uk
Data valid at time of scrape 28th August 2020.
Data sources as follows:
https://www.fastmetrics.com/internet-connection-speed-map-usa.php
https://www.statista.com/statistics/184691/internet-usage-in-the-us-by-state/,
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/research/median-home-values-by-state/,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122987/change-in-remote-work-trends-after-covid-in-usa/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1106765/covid-19-us-average-daily-broadband-usage/
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This article was edited and published by Rick Weinberg, California Business Journal’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief. Click here for Rick Weinberg’s biography.
