Remote work and a search for affordable housing have reshaped where people live.
Cities across the US that might have previously flown under the radar are offering new residents big incentives, from cash to free land.
Lillian Griffith moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Alpharetta, Georgia, in August 2022 to take advantage of the Tulsa Remote program, which granted her $10,000 simply for relocating to the city.
“The Tulsa Remote program is not some elitist program that only accepts people who work in high-paying positions,” Griffith, a data engineer, told Business Insider in 2023. “It’s more about pulling people who can bring a good culture to the city.”
New residents can boost the communities offering the incentives, too.
Perry County, Indiana, located an hour west of Louisville, Kentucky, offers qualifying new residents $7,000 split into two payments — $3,500 when they arrive and $3,500 after 12 months.
It’s an investment in the region’s future, said Shiraz Mukarram, manager at the Perry County Development Corporation.
“We do not want Perry County to be one of those statistics of a declining population. We want to make it grow,” Mukarram told BI.
Since the program began in 2023, 16 families have moved to Perry County from states like Florida, Georgia, California, and Massachusetts with great success, Mukarram added. Just this past February, a high schooler whose family moved from Virginia was elected to the high school’s Homecoming Court.
The perks offered vary from place to place. Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is courting recent college graduates with a program that offers up to $15,000 a year toward student-loan repayments. Meanwhile, Manilla, Iowa, a small town about 90 minutes west of Des Moines, offers relocators free plots of land to build houses.
Business Insider rounded up 21 places across the US that are dishing out perks to anyone who moves there, presented in alphabetical order.
Do you know of another city that pays people to move there? Did you get paid to move somewhere? We’d love to hear about it. Email reporter Jordan Pandy at jpandy@businessinsider.com.
A lottery program in Baltimore wants to reduce the upfront costs required for prospective residents to buy a home.
Buying Into Baltimore is a program that awards $5,000 in down-payment and closing-cost assistance to a few lucky prospective homebuyers who enter a lottery after attending a special Trolley Tour that is held three times a year. (The next one is Saturday, May 3.)
The prize is not limited to first-time homebuyers, but following the event, applicants have 10 business days to make an offer on a home, have the offer accepted, and obtain a contract of sale to be eligible to even enter the lottery.
A special note for remote workers considering making a move — the property must also be used as a primary residence.
A city on a lake in Minnesota wants to reimburse you for your relocation costs.
Bemidji, a 15,000-person city in northern Minnesota, has a program offering remote workers interested in moving to the area six months of free internet service, a one-year membership to a coworking space, a one-year membership to the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, and free access to community programs and events.
To qualify, movers must work primarily from home and be relocating from at least 60 miles away.
Columbus, Georgia, will pay remote workers $5,000 to move there.
Columbus, a 200,000-person city on the Georgia-Alabama border, is offering $5,000 to remote workers who move there.
Together with MakeMyMove, a site that connects remote workers with places offering them incentives, Columbus also offers relocators other perks, including six months of time at a coworking space, coffee with the mayor, and a two-night hotel stay for a visit before your move.
The total package is worth $8,700, according to MakeMyMove.
In order to qualify for the program, you need to be employed full-time, earn at least $75,000, and live at least 75 miles outside Columbus at the time of the application.
A Kentucky nonprofit is trying to reverse population loss by offering $7,500 to people who move to one of 34 counties in the state.
The nonprofit Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) was founded to reverse population loss in the rural, mountainous regions of Kentucky.
It offers relocation grants to remote workers, which include $5,000 for the worker who moves, plus an additional $2,500 bonus if their partner secures a job in education or healthcare.
Interested remote workers can move to any of 34 eligible counties in the eastern part of Kentucky; the swath includes a scenic network of canyons called the Red River Gorge and the Country Music Highway Museum, dedicated to artists from the region like Billy Ray Cyrus and The Judds.
Applicants must make $70,000 and currently reside outside Kentucky.
A small town in Indiana is offering “Grandparents on Demand” to movers and $5,000 to offset relocation costs.
Greensburg, a 10-square-mile Indiana town between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, is offering several incentives to potential movers.
The town worked with MakeMyMove to create the program, which offers anyone relocating to the area $5,000 cash, roughly $2,000 in gift cards to local businesses, a yearlong membership to a local coworking space and the YMCA, and access to childcare.
Greensburg’s “Grandparents on Demand” program pairs newcomers with older adults in the area who can provide babysitting services or even act as stand-ins at school Grandparents Day free of charge.
Hamilton, Ohio, assists recent graduates with their student-loan payments.
Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is encouraging recent college graduates to apply for its Talent Attraction Program Scholarship.
Scholarship recipients can get up to $15,000 a year toward student loan payments.
In order to qualify for the scholarship, you must have graduated from a STEAM (science, tech, engineering, the arts, or math) program within the last seven years. You must not already live in the city of Hamilton but have plans to move or live in what the city defines as one of its urban neighborhoods.
Applicants must demonstrate employment within Butler County or a full-time remote position. Preference is given to people “with a desire to give back to the community and become engaged in activities.”
Applications are open until July 1 and are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Ketchikan, Alaska, pays up to $2,000 a year to live there and provides free internet.
Ketchikan, a scenic coastal city near the southernmost tip of Alaska that is a 90-minute flight from Seattle, launched the Choose Ketchikan program in November 2021.
Applicants over 18 must be “fully employed.” To be eligible, an individual or family must currently live outside Alaska while working remotely for a company that is also outside Alaska.
After relocation, all Alaska residents get an annual payment from Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend, which can be as much as $3,000 a year or more.
Ketchikan, which touts its clean air and drinking water, is also offering new residents three months of free high-speed internet.
A quaint town in central Kansas is giving away free land to build your home on.
Lincoln, Kansas, a town of about 1,100, is offering free residential land plots just outside the city’s downtown.
The city grants a deed to people who agree to build a home, which can range from 14,000 to 35,000 square feet, on one of the lots — as long as it meets certain design guidelines.
Before building the house, the applicant must provide a deposit of 8 cents per square foot; the money is refunded upon completion of the home. It’s a modest request since one contractor said the cost to build a custom home in the state starts at more than $100 per square foot.
Lincoln has a deep culture of history with museums such as the Post Rock Scout Museum and the Lincoln Historical Museum.
According to Live Lincoln County, you do not have to be a resident of Lincoln, or even the state of Kansas, to participate in the program. There are no rules against building a home for the sole purpose of reselling or flipping it.
The state of Maine offers student-loan repayment assistance to eligible college graduates.
Maine has said it can reimburse residents who graduated after 2007 through its student loan repayment tax credit program.
If you live in Maine during the tax year, you are likely eligible for a tax credit that could total up to $2,500 annually, up to $25,000 lifetime, toward student-loan payments.
Additional perks are available for graduates with STEM degrees, including the possibility of refunding the entirety of their state tax payments.
Manilla, Iowa, is offering free plots of land to people who will build homes on them.
Manilla — a small city in western Iowa — is offering free lots of land to anyone looking to build a single-family home.
Manilla is also eliminating taxes on the homes built on the “no cost lots” for the first five years.
A program in West Virginia is offering potential new residents $12,000 in cash.
West Virginia launched a program named Ascend WV to attract out-of-state remote workers to Morgantown, a vibrant college town home to West Virginia University.
To be eligible, potential residents must be 18 years or older, able to verify remote employment, and willing to move to the city of 30,000 for two years.
Those accepted to the program are expected to relocate to Morgantown within six months and receive $12,000 in cash in monthly installments. If people choose to purchase a home in West Virginia, they can get the remaining cash payments in a lump sum.
Other perks of the program include a coworking-space membership and free outdoor-gear rentals.
In addition to Morgantown, Ascend WV also incentivizes moves to other parts of West Virginia: the Greenbrier Valley, the Eastern Panhandle, the New River Gorge area, and Greater Elkins community.
Newton, Iowa, is offering homebuyers more than $10,000 to buy a house priced at $240,000 or more.
Newton, Iowa, about 30 miles east of Des Moines, wants to give relocators who purchase a home there cash upon closing.
The city is offering $10,000 in cash to buyers of homes valued at more than $240,000 and a five-year tax abatement for homes below that value. Eligible homes include single-family new builds that started construction in 2020 or 2021.
There’s also a “Get to Know Newton Welcome Package” that includes gifts from local businesses and opportunities to attend local events, including at the Iowa Speedway.
A town outside Indianapolis is offering a $5,000 grant and other perks to new residents.
Located just 30 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, Noblesville is home to the Ruoff Music Center, the region’s most significant outdoor concert venue.
The town is offering new residents a package that includes a $5,000 relocation grant, a $500 health and wellness stipend, and a one-year membership to a local coworking space, among other incentives.
Remote workers interested in the program must make at least $80,000 annually and be able to relocate within six months of applying.
A small Illinois town is offering $5,000 to movers looking for work.
Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 on the Missouri border, has also launched a program to incentivize Americans to relocate there.
The Quincy Workforce Relocation Assistance Program, also called Quincy’s Calling, offers movers who can get a job within the county a property-tax rebate of up to $5,000 after one year of living and working in the area.
If you would prefer to rent, you can get a rental rebate of up to $3,500 after six months of residency and employment.
Remote workers aren’t eligible for the program. New residents must work in Adams County, where Quincy is.
A small county in Indiana is paying qualified remote workers $7,000.
Since 2023, Perry County has offered a cash incentive of $7,000 to qualifying remote workers and their families who move to the rural community. Located between Evansville, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, along the Ohio River, Perry County has less than 20,000 residents, according to the most recent census data.
The $7,000 payment is split into two installments — one when families first move and another after 12 months. Families also receive a welcome basket that includes freebies from local fudge to discounted WiFi.
Eligible applicants must make $50,000 at a job they can retain when they move and be able to relocate within 6 months.
A handful of cities in Alabama are offering remote workers who move to the area $10,000 cash, paid out over a year.
The Shoals in Alabama — a cluster of municipalities including Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia that straddles the banks of the Tennessee River — is offering remote workers $10,000 to move to the area.
Near the border with Tennessee and Mississippi, the four cities are just a few hours from hubs including Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham.
The program offers $2,500 upfront for relocation costs, an additional $2,500 six months after moving there, and $5,000 at the end of the first year of residency.
Eligible applicants must be over 18 and able to move to the region within six months. They must also be employed outside the area and have a minimum annual income of $52,000.
Southwest Michigan is offering remote workers $15,000 toward a down payment on a home, along with other perks.
A string of ZIP codes in southwest Michigan is looking to entice people with up to $15,000 to put toward a home purchase and more than $5,000 in additional perks. Those extras include memberships to athletic clubs, driving ranges, coworking spaces, and more.
Applicants to the Move to Michigan program must be willing to purchase a $200,000 home in the region, which is on the shores of Lake Michigan.
They must also be willing to become a full-time Michigander by securing a Michigan driver’s license and claiming the state as their primary residence.
Applicants must also have current full-time, remote employment outside Michigan.
Sign up for the program’s newsletter for updates.
Texarkana, which straddles Texas and Arkansas, offers a $5,000 relocation bonus to new residents.
Texarkana is a pair of neighboring twin cities with the same name in both states it straddles: Texas and Arkansas.
The cities have separate municipal governments but often operate as one metropolitan region. It has a joint offer for remote workers moving to either city.
Texarkana is offering a $5,000 relocation bonus along with other incentives, including free tickets to the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and a 25% tuition discount at Texas A&M at Texarkana, the local four-year public university.
Eligible applicants must make at least $75,000 a year. They must reside outside the state of Arkansas or, if a Texas resident, at least 75 miles from Texarkana.
Topeka, Kansas, is offering potential new residents up to $15,000 to move there.
Kansas’ state capital has teamed up with employers to offer cash to those willing to move there.
Participants of the program, called Choose Topeka, can receive up to $15,000 if they purchase a home in Topeka and secure a job in the area. Remote workers with employment outside the area can earn up to $5,000 toward rental costs or $10,000 toward a home purchase.
As an added bonus, Jimmy John’s, the sandwich franchise, throws in an extra $1,000 for anyone who moves within delivery range of one of its shops.
Tucson, Arizona, is offering remote workers perks and services worth about $7,500.
A local economic-development organization launched Remote Tucson during the pandemic to lure remote workers to the area.
The program offers relocators $1,500 toward moving costs, one year of free internet, free trials at local coworking spaces, membership to a local cultural institution, networking opportunities, and more.
Eligible applicants must be over 18 years old, have full-time remote employment outside the area, and be able to move to Tucson within six months.
Tulsa Remote, one of the country’s most well-known incentive programs, offers remote workers $10,000 grants.
Tulsa Remote, a program that started in 2018, is designed to draw new residents to Oklahoma. Since 2018, the program has helped more than 1,400 people relocate to Tulsa.
The program offers $10,000, which people can put toward purchasing or renting a home in Tulsa. It also offers $500 travel reimbursements and a $150 Airbnb credit for applicants to familiarize themselves with the area.
Insider previously interviewed four folks who hailed from major cities on both US coasts and made the move to Tulsa; most said it was a fantastic decision.
To qualify for the program, applicants must be over 18 and live outside Oklahoma. They must also prove a consistent stream of income and the ability to work remotely. Applicants must also promise to commit to moving to and living in Tulsa for at least one year.
Taylor Borden, Libertina Brandt, and Leanna Garfield contributed to previous versions of this story.
Read the full article here
