The 10 Best States for Racial Equality in Working From Home

Working from home became much more common after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the share of Americans working out of spaces like bedrooms, kitchens or home offices tripled between 2019 and 2021. Women and high earners were the most likely to be home-based workers.

More broadly, about 10% of American workers on average worked from home between 2017 and 2021, based on a U.S. News analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Yet that rate varied among racial and ethnic groups: While less than 7% of Hispanic and American Indian and Alaska Native workers called their home their office, respectively, shares were higher for Asian Americans (13%) and whites (11%).

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Breaking down the data further shows how gaps between racial and ethnic groups can persist and vary at the state level. As part of the Racial Equality in America project, U.S. News compared working-from-home rates for racial and ethnic groups in a state to the rate for the state’s population overall, calculating the average disparity between the two categories. States were ranked based on the size of their disparity, with higher values resulting in a worse ranking for racial equality in working from home. Disparities in shares of people working from home are reflected as an average absolute percentage-point difference.

As an example, South Carolina (7.3%) and Tennessee (8.3%) each had relatively similar shares of people working from home overall. In Tennessee, however, about 12% of Asian people worked from home – notably higher than the state’s share – compared with just 5% of Hispanic workers, lower than the state’s overall share. These gaps contributed to a larger disparity and worse ranking.

Meanwhile, even though South Carolina had a similar overall share of people working from home, assessable racial and ethnic groups there did so at rates closer to the state’s overall rate on average, amounting to a lower level of disparity.

These are the 10 best states for racial equality in working from home as assessed by U.S. News. Learn more about the Racial Equality in America project in our methodology.