We live in a divided world, but one thing most people can agree on right now is that the cost of housing is way too high. Home prices have slipped a bit, but home prices, mortgage rates, and rents remain sky-high in a lot of places, and a lot of people—especially younger folks—are despairing of ever owning a home. It’s simply too expensive.
Increasingly, though, there’s a radical solution if you’re flexible: Getting paid to move someplace. Across the country (and even in Europe), small towns and even larger cities are offering some pretty attractive packages to encourage folks to move there. Aside from cash, some towns are even offering free property—as in, completely free plots of land or (in some cases) perfectly good houses that just need a little TLC. These are areas of the country that have lost population over the years, or that have seen old industries close up and are seeking remote workers to shore up the tax base.
The list of places offering incentives is pretty long—you can see an exhaustive list over at MakeMyMove, which lists these opportunities and also frequently acts as the official application site for many of these programs. If getting paid to move someplace sounds good to you, here are some of the places you could call home soon.
Paducah, Ky.
Located at the point where the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers meet, Paducah is a beautiful small town with a population of just over 25,000. The town wants more remote workers, and they will pay you to do your remote job there with a package that’s valued at about $6,500, depending on your annual salary. This includes a tax waiver, reimbursement of moving expenses, an Internet stipend, and a bunch of free passes to local amenities and cultural events. It’s a lovely little town, and as long as your job is at least 100 miles away, you could get paid to live there.
Topeka, Kan.
Topeka’s not a small town—more than 125,000 people live there, and they will pay you up to $15,000 to be one of them. This isn’t as easy as shouting “We’re moving to Topeka!” and loading up the moving van—your employer has to participate in the program and allow you to move there with a full-time position, and there’s an application process. You also have to commit to making the area your primary residence within a year. Some employers have even matched Topeka’s funds, doubling the cash people are getting for moving there, so this could be well worth checking out.
West Lafayette, Ind.
Instead of the town itself, this time it’s a school paying folks to move someplace: In West Lafayette, Purdue University offers the Work From Purdue program to attract people to the area. As long as you don’t currently live in Indiana, you could get paid $5,000 along with a free co-working space and free memberships in various professional development programs.
Newton, Iowa
If you’re looking to buy a new house and you’re not sure you can afford one, Newton, Iowa (pop. 15,688) will give you up to $10,000 towards the purchase of a new home there (as long as the house costs at least $190,000). This actually gives you a lot of choices in this charming little town. The program is designed simply to ensure the town keeps its population as it continues to reinvent itself after Maytag closed down the factory that once provided a lot of the economic stability for the community.
Mankato, Kan.
Mankato is tiny—less than 1,000 people live there. But if you’re looking for a deal, this small town will literally give you a plot of land for free as long as you commit to building a house on it. The idea is to stimulate growth, because there isn’t a lot of housing stock available in the town. Even if someone wanted to move to a charming small town in Kansas they’d have trouble finding a place to live—so getting a free plot of land is designed to make it easier to just build your own place there.
Morgantown, W.Va.
A bustling city of nearly 30,000, Morgantown is part of the Ascend West Virginia program, which offers $12,000 in cash plus free access to co-working spaces, outdoor recreation areas, and acclimation services to help you settle in. All you need is a full-time remote position with a company located outside West Virginia and you’re eligible to cash in just to make the move. If you’re an outdoorsy type, this could be ideal.
Noblesville, Ind.
If you make at least $60k a year, Noblesville, Ind. would love you to move to their quaint small city of almost 70,000. In fact, they’d love it so much they’ll pay you $5,000 cash up front and an additional $10,000 in various benefits. Those benefits are designed to integrate you into the community and make you love the place—there’s a golf membership included, and a coffee date with the mayor (who looks like a nice enough guy)!
Rochester, N.Y.
Looking for someplace a little less small town and rural? Rochester, N.Y. is offering an incentive package worth close to $20,000 to move there and work remotely. As with similar programs around the country, the whole idea is that it’s cheaper to live in Greater Rochester (median home prices are around $184k, and median rent in the area is under $1,000) so you can take your remote income and get more for it in an area with a population of over one million people.
Burlington, Vt.
If you’re looking for a more northeastern living experience, Vermont is open for business. The ThinkVermont program offers incentives up to $7,500 to move to a place like Burlington if you’re bringing your remote work with you or who are willing to relocate there for a job (you have to get that job on your own, however). This program is so popular it routinely runs out of funding, so your best bet is to apply now and be ready to move if and when you get the nod.
