Nov 24, 2020 - Economy

$10,000 to telework from Tulsa

Erica Pandey

Tulsa, Oklahoma, at sunrise. Photo: Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If you're going to be working remotely for the foreseeable future and want to save some money on rent, you could move to Tulsa — and get paid $10,000 to do so.

Why it matters: Tulsa Remote — the Kaiser Family Foundation-funded program that's offering this perk to teleworkers — is a prime example of smaller cities attempting to leverage remote work to draw in talented professionals from the big, coastal metros.

Background: Tulsa Remote launched well before the onset of the pandemic, in 2018, but has seen a spike in applications this year, says urbanist Richard Florida, who served as a consultant for the program.

Here are the rules: You must be a full-time remote worker over the age of 18 and commit to living in Tulsa for at least a year.

Of the 400 people who've moved to the city since the program launched in 2018, only three have left, CNN Business reports.
100 more new residents will have settled in by the end of 2020.

Tulsa Remote's target demographic is "people who are at the family formation stage and for whom trying to make a life in New York or Washington or San Francisco has become incredibly expensive," Florida says.

The program is also attempting to diversify Tulsa by pulling in residents of different races, ethnicities and backgrounds, he says.

Go deeper: Americans are moving again

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$10,000 to telework from Tulsa

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