Last Updated: 15th May 2025
The Cities With The Most Remote Working Jobs
Remote working has become increasingly popular in recent years and it goes without saying that the Coronavirus pandemic accelerated this trend. Here we look at which UK & international cities have the most, and least, remote working jobs.
Leadership & Management
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Remote working has become increasingly popular in recent years and it goes without saying that the Coronavirus pandemic accelerated this trend.
With lockdowns and social distancing measures making traditional office-based scenarios pretty much impossible, many companies had to adapt to a new way of working.
This is something that many employees seemed to embrace though, with a recent survey finding that 97% of people working remotely would like to continue doing so, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers.
Why? Well, remote working can provide increased flexibility and work-life balance, which can lead to improved productivity and job satisfaction. It also offers the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world.
Hybrid working, which involves a blend of remote and office-based working, can offer the best of both worlds. Employees can enjoy the perks of remote working while still benefitting from face-to-face interactions with co-workers.
As a result, many companies are now embracing this flexible approach to working in order to attract and retain top talent. This got us thinking about where in the world is really championing remote and hybrid working, and where has regressed to more traditional scenarios.
Well, by analysing Linkedin, we found out. Read on below to see which cities in the UK and around the world offer the highest percentage of remote and hybrid jobs.
| Ranking | City | Country | Remote % | Hybrid % | Remote & Hybrid % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunderland | England | 9.02% | 8.93% | 17.95% |
| 2 | York | England | 5.86% | 23.36% | 29.22% |
| 3 | Southend-on-Sea | England | 5.57% | 7.66% | 13.23% |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne | England | 5.47% | 23.98% | 29.45% |
| 5 | Sheffield | England | 5.21% | 15.36% | 20.57% |
| 6 | Edinburgh | Scotland | 5.19% | 23.15% | 28.33% |
| 7 | Dundee | Scotland | 4.58% | 12.95% | 17.53% |
| 8 | Manchester | England | 4.55% | 22.90% | 27.44% |
| 9 | London | England | 4.23% | 16.15% | 20.37% |
| 10 | Oxford | England | 4.19% | 16.81% | 21.01% |
| 11 | Swindon | England | 4.13% | 15.57% | 19.70% |
| 12 | Cardiff | Wales | 4.10% | 20.57% | 24.67% |
| 13 | Liverpool | England | 4.05% | 15.71% | 19.77% |
| 14 | Brighton | England | 4.02% | 14.51% | 18.53% |
| 15 | Leeds | England | 3.98% | 24.80% | 28.78% |
| 16 | Glasgow | Scotland | 3.95% | 24.57% | 28.52% |
| 16 | Swansea | Wales | 3.95% | 13.10% | 17.05% |
| 18 | Birmingham | England | 3.92% | 19.44% | 23.37% |
| 19 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | 3.90% | 20.34% | 24.24% |
| 20 | Nottingham | England | 3.78% | 16.76% | 20.55% |
Source: Virtual College Get the data Created with Datawrapper
Interesting findings:
- The average number of remote jobs in UK cities is 3.3% and 15.5% for a hybrid work approach.
- It appears that the North is embracing remote working more than the south of Britain, with 7 of the top cities most in favour of remote working being Northern and two of these being as far north as Scotland.
- Almost one in ten (9.02%) jobs in Sunderland are remote compared to less than 1% in Poole.
- Countywise, Scotland offers the highest percentage of remote jobs with an average of 4.11%, compared to Wales with 4.03% and England with 3.22%.
- And in the English regions, the North East offer the highest percentage of remote jobs by far, with an average of 7.24%, compared to 3.53% in Yorkshire and Humber, 3.18% in the North West, 3.13% in the South East, 3.05% in the East of England, 2.80% in the East Midlands, 2.77% in the South West, and 2.18% in the West Midlands.
- When it comes to hybrid working too, there was a Northern landslide with Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, York and Edinburgh being in the top five cities.
- Almost one in four (24.8%) jobs in Leeds offer hybrid working, compared to just over one in 20 (6.45%) in Wolverhampton.
International Cities That Are The Most In Favour Of Remote Working
| Ranking | City | Country | Remote % | Hybrid % | Remote & Hybrid % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico City | Mexico | 18.69% | 6.07% | 24.76% |
| 2 | New York | United States | 18.44% | 23.54% | 41.98% |
| 3 | San Francisco | United States | 17.62% | 14.94% | 32.56% |
| 4 | Warsaw | Poland | 14.82% | 17.54% | 32.36% |
| 5 | Lisbon | Portugal | 11.07% | 18.95% | 30.01% |
| 6 | Seattle | United States | 10.78% | 7.35% | 18.13% |
| 7 | Athens | Greece | 10.39% | 12.98% | 23.38% |
| 8 | Denver | United States | 10.02% | 8.67% | 18.68% |
| 9 | Bilbao | Spain | 9.62% | 1.42% | 11.04% |
| 10 | Boston | United States | 9.40% | 10.72% | 20.12% |
| 11 | Seville | Spain | 9.23% | 7.58% | 16.80% |
| 12 | Philadelphia | United States | 9.22% | 7.04% | 16.26% |
| 13 | Toronto | Canada | 9.12% | 15.21% | 24.33% |
| 14 | Baltimore | United States | 8.97% | 6.83% | 15.81% |
| 15 | San Jose | United States | 8.87% | 6.75% | 15.62% |
| 16 | Madrid | Spain | 8.62% | 4.36% | 12.98% |
| 17 | Budapest | Hungary | 8.28% | 12.51% | 20.79% |
| 18 | Washington | United States | 8.26% | 10.89% | 19.15% |
| 19 | Prague | Czech Republic | 8.22% | 10.20% | 18.42% |
| 20 | Chicago | United States | 8.20% | 9.28% | 17.48% |
Source: Virtual College Get the data Created with Datawrapper
Interesting findings:
- Half of the top ten cities that are most in favour of remote working are in the US: New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and Boston.
- Including Mexico City makes six of the top 10 in North America with the other four being in Europe: Warsaw, Lisbon, Athens, and Bilbao.
- When it comes to continents, North America has an average of 8.4% of remote jobs, compared to 5.3% in Europe, 4.5% in South America, 2.61% in Asia, and 2.43% in Australasia.
- City level, Mexico City is the city most in favour of remote working with almost one in five (18.7%) being of this nature. Helsinki, in comparison, has a 0.13% of remote jobs.
- Almost one in four (24.57%) jobs in Glasgow offer hybrid working, compared to only 0.5% in Marseille, France.
At Virtual College, we know that this new approach to working can also bring rise to many challenges including effective communication, particularly without the visual cues that you get from working face-to-face.
That’s why we have a range of short courses available to support remote and hybrid working including how to lead, manage, develop, support and communicate with teams in this type of environment.
Methodology
Using Resonance Consultancy's '2023 World's Best Cities' list and the 50 biggest cities and towns in the UK, we analysed Linkedin and found out the percentage of jobs in each city that were either remote or remote and hybrid.