Houston Rated a Top Destination for Digital Nomads
Remote workers choose to pack up their belongings and hit the road for many reasons. The inspiration that comes from visiting new locations can fuel productivity, decrease the need to take vacation time, and afford workers a higher quality of living without breaking the bank.
As workers across the country take advantage of newfound flexibility in working styles, some cities have stood out as clear favorites among travelers. It’s no surprise that Houston ranked in Airbnb’s top five destinations for digital nomads. Keep reading to learn more about the report and about why Houston ranked so highly.
Report Takeaways
With work flexibility on the rise, Airbnb combed through its data to determine the most popular destinations for long-term guests and their hosts in the United States and Canada. Results were calculated using information about affordability, hospitality rankings, popularity, and host income.
Although Airbnb is largely known for providing vacation spots, trends suggest that it has become much more than that. One in five users utilized the platform for accommodations while working remotely in 2021 and Q1 2022.
Top Earning Cities for Hosts
As costs rise due to inflation, many homeowners have turned to hosting to earn additional income. Among the top five cities in the U.S. for hosts were La Quinta, CA, Delray Beach, FL, Marco Island, FL, Palm Springs, CA, and Indio Springs, CA.
Best Equipped
Cambridge, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Irvine, and Seattle were named among the top five best equipped cities.
In May, Airbnb introduced Split Stays to make it easier for guests to call one location home. Rather than staying in one accommodation, guests can now jump from spot to spot in their city of choice, making long-term stays more doable. For travelers who chose to stay in Houston, this update also made it easier to explore different districts without having to lean as much on transportation.
Most Hospitable
Bend, Santa Fe, Boulder, Key West, and Fresno ranked among the cities with the most five-star ratings from long-term guests.
Most Affordable
Affordability is a top priority for many digital nomads. Locations in Washington, Virginia, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Texas were rated as most affordable for long-term stays.
Most Popular
Many remote employees can choose to work from anywhere in the U.S., making destinations with plenty to do top contenders. Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, Houston, and San Francisco placed in the top five most popular cities. In order to make the most of these bustling areas, guests truly do need to book long-term accommodations, making them perfect for those who’d rather settle in a bit before moving on to another place.
What Makes Houston Digital Nomad Friendly?
Houston is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities for good reason. It draws visitors from all around the world, and many choose to settle down here. Although Houston may be younger than some cities, it offers diversity unlike anywhere else. Explore neighborhoods with rich history and culture, dine at restaurants that serve genuine dishes from all over the globe, and partake in lively events that celebrate Houston’s diverse residents.
The city is also considered to be more affordable than other metropolises, which is something to factor in when planning a long-term stay. There’s a lot to see and do in Houston all throughout the year, and it will definitely take a longer stay to check out all the city’s major museums, galleries, shopping centers, and five-star restaurants.
Visitors love that the city is loaded with parks, zoos, waterways, and walkable neighborhoods. It’s easy to be active and interact with nature here. Hermann Park, located just 15 minutes from Houston Heights, was even named one of the Fifteen Great Places in America by the American Planning Association.
Houston communities like the Heights have become a hub for breweries over the last several years. Some breweries, like Karbach Brewing Company, are great places to have a meal with your beer.
Beer lovers have a lot to look forward to in Space City. The number of breweries has exploded in recent years. Walking Stick Brewing Company, 8th Wonder Brewery, Eureka Heights Brewery, Elder Son Brewing Company, Great Heights Brewing Company, Astral Brewing, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company, 11 Below Brewing Company, New Magnolia Brewing Company, Karbach Brewing Company, and Saint Arnold’s are some names for nomads to remember the next time they’re looking to try a new beer after work.
Neighborhoods like Houston Heights are also sprinkled with several coffee shops that are perfect to work remotely from when working from home won’t do. Take a sip and energize at Coffee-Q, Boomtown Coffee Company, or Tenfold Coffee Company – just to name a few standouts.
Boomtown Coffee Company on a busy May afternoon. Outdoor seating adds to this spot’s popularity with locals and visitors. Source: Instagram
What to Look for in a Workspace
It’s important not to overlook your workspace when it comes down to choosing a location to work remotely from. After all, even if a city is a prime destination for nomads, you still need to be able to effectively do the work.
Be sure to ask your host about Internet connectivity so you don’t lose out on productivity. For the most part, Houston is well-equipped with plenty of WiFi to keep you rolling! You may also want to ask if the accommodation has an office area, adequate lighting, and enough outlet space to keep your devices running.
Circa Connects
At Circa Real Estate, we’ve made several improvements to our office space to ensure that our team can work efficiently. Although we’re not always in the office together, our wide-open office is available to agents who’d like to pop in. In fact, we do not provide private desks. Instead, we offer agents lots of room to spread out and plenty of places to plug in.
We’ve added sound and video equipment to make virtual meetings clear, crisp, and hassle-free – critical in today’s working environment. We also have a private conference room set up for easy video conferencing and in-person client meetings. In unpredictable times, the ability to choose between meeting remotely or on-site has been a gamechanger.
Our meeting spaces have also allowed the team to gather for team-building events and strike an important balance between in-person and remote work.
Being able to connect in person and online makes it easy to share what’s going on in the real estate world and help clients buy and sell their homes.
Employing the latest technology to keep up with our needs has also been important. We use programs that make it easy to share documents electronically, reducing the need to be on-site. Digital documents are also more environmentally friendly, so the decision to implement new processes was a no-brainer.
Our office makes connecting with our clients and staff highly efficient. We love that while the majority of our team lives and works in Houston, it’s possible to connect no matter where in the world we are. As technology changes, we’re committed to keeping up to date on the latest trends in work efficiency.
FEATURED HOME
This 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath beauty in Section 5 of Timbergrove Manor features a first-floor primary suite with tray ceilings, a large marble bathroom with a freestanding tub, and ample closet space. On the second floor, find four additional bedrooms and a massive game room with a wet bar and drink fridge. The home also includes a gorgeous formal dining room, a study/living room, and an open-concept family room with a gas fireplace. Every area of the chef’s kitchen was planned with exquisite detail, including the custom cabinets, butler’s pantry with a wine fridge, large breakfast bar, and Thermador appliances. Amazing natural light flows through the abundance of windows in the home, making the wood flooring glow. Spend your time outside on the large front and back porches or in the yard – there’s even room for a pool! Located within minutes of Downtown, Memorial Park, and Lorraine Cherry Nature Preserve.
