Cities Offer Five-Figure Sums to Remote Workers Who Relocate

Cumberland, Maryland will pay $20,000 to as many as 10 people who move to the city and stay five years. The money breaks down as $10,000 in cash plus $10,000 toward a down payment or home repairs. Mayor Ray Morriss said the offer targets a specific group: "The people we are trying to entice are the people who are bringing their jobs with them."

Cumberland sits about 130 miles from Washington, D.C. in the Appalachian Mountains. Manufacturing plants and other large employers began closing there in the 1970s. "At one time, the population of Cumberland was over 40,000 people," Morriss said. Today fewer than 19,000 people live in the city.

Tulsa Remote, a program in Oklahoma, started before the pandemic and pays $10,000 to remote workers who move there. Justin Harlan, managing director of Tulsa Remote, said the effort began as a test. "We started the program really as an experiment to try to diversify the labor workforce here in Tulsa, which is often reliant on oil and gas," Harlan said. Participation grew from about 70 people in 2019 to more than 3,500. The program requires one year of residency. Harlan said 90% of participants stay past that mark, and 75% of people who joined since 2019 still live in Tulsa.

Faith Langevin moved from Atlanta to Tulsa in 2022. She took the $10,000 payment and cited the lower cost of living as a draw. Her husband, also a remote worker, was paid to move as well. Three years on, she said she has no regrets. "This is really home!" Langevin said.

Evan Starr, an associate professor at the University of Maryland's School of Business, studied the Tulsa Remote program. He examined its retention rate. "You don't want people only coming to your area for the money. They might come and just take the incentives and then as soon as any restrictions are up, then they might leave," Starr said. He also said, "My sense is that it is here to stay. And so it's really opened up this new level of geographic mobility. You're not tied to where your employer is."

The website Make My Move lists more than 100 places advertising cash offers for new residents. In Cumberland, longtime resident Gino Giatras said he welcomes new neighbors. His family has run a hot dog shop there since 1918. "The reason I love it is because of the people, the weather, the actvities," Giatras said.