NextChapter

Best all-round cities for remote workers in the Southwest

Austin is the best all-round city for remote workers in the Southwest, with a score of 100 / 100.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

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Key facts

  • #1 Austin, TX: 100 / 100
  • #2 Dallas, TX: 85 / 100
  • #3 Phoenix, AZ: 62 / 100
  • 14 cities ranked in the Southwest
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1Austin TX100 / 100
  2. 2Dallas TX85 / 100
  3. 3Phoenix AZ62 / 100
  4. 4Houston TX58 / 100
  5. 5Addison TX55 / 100
  6. 6Las Vegas NV52 / 100
  7. 7Reno NV47 / 100
  8. 8Oklahoma City OK47 / 100
  9. 9San Antonio TX45 / 100
  10. 10Irving TX43 / 100

What stands out

  • The lead is wide: Austin (100 / 100) is well clear of Irving at #10 (43 / 100).
  • Addison reaches #5 on a sample of 197 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • Austin is the largest market in the top ten, with 5,903 openings behind its figure.
  • Cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

Remote work is attached to a city by the employer's base. This list weighs how many openings are remote, how many there are and what the pay is worth locally, to show which cities hire remotely in volume.

How to use it

If you want a remote role, the top cities show where the employers are. You can live elsewhere and still apply to them as a remote candidate.

The top 25

  1. 1

    Austin TX

    100 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    8%
    Pay after cost of living
    $166k
    Remote openings
    482

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare

    Based on 5,903 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Austin

  2. 2

    Dallas TX

    85 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    7%
    Pay after cost of living
    $131k
    Remote openings
    307

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Shield AI, Texas Instruments

    Based on 4,429 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Dallas

  3. 3

    Phoenix AZ

    62 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    6%
    Pay after cost of living
    $110k
    Remote openings
    178

    Hiring most here: Honeywell Aerospace, State of Arizona, American Society for Microbiology

    Based on 2,749 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Phoenix

  4. 4

    Houston TX

    58 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    3%
    Pay after cost of living
    $120k
    Remote openings
    143

    Hiring most here: Axiom Space, Trinzic, Fervo Energy

    Based on 4,330 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Houston

  5. 5

    Addison TX

    55 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    5%
    Pay after cost of living
    $155k
    Remote openings
    9

    Hiring most here: National Life Group, National Life Insurance Company, Bank of America

    Based on 197 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Addison

  6. 6

    Las Vegas NV

    52 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    5%
    Pay after cost of living
    $105k
    Remote openings
    51

    Hiring most here: Caesars Entertainment, Allegiant Travel Company, Jt4

    Based on 932 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Las Vegas

  7. 7

    Reno NV

    47 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    3%
    Pay after cost of living
    $132k
    Remote openings
    10

    Hiring most here: IGT, Amperesand, Caesars Entertainment

    Based on 296 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Reno

  8. 8

    Oklahoma City OK

    47 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    4%
    Pay after cost of living
    $120k
    Remote openings
    21

    Hiring most here: Love's Travel Stops, CACI International, Northrop Grumman

    Based on 569 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Oklahoma City

  9. 9

    San Antonio TX

    45 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    3%
    Pay after cost of living
    $116k
    Remote openings
    42

    Hiring most here: H-E-B, University Health San Antonio, UT Health San Antonio

    Based on 1,282 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Antonio

  10. 10

    Irving TX

    43 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    2%
    Pay after cost of living
    $137k
    Remote openings
    22

    Hiring most here: CHRISTUS Health, 7-Eleven, Mckesson

    Based on 883 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Irving

  11. 11

    Plano TX

    35 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    2%
    Pay after cost of living
    $124k
    Remote openings
    24

    Hiring most here: NTT Data, Pepsico, JPMorgan Chase

    Based on 1,051 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Plano

  12. 12

    Tempe AZ

    30 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    3%
    Pay after cost of living
    $116k
    Remote openings
    21

    Hiring most here: Carvana, Amazon, Viasat

    Based on 672 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Tempe

  13. 13

    Fort Worth TX

    21 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    2%
    Pay after cost of living
    $112k
    Remote openings
    28

    Hiring most here: Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Aircraft, MP Materials

    Based on 1,267 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Fort Worth

  14. 14

    Scottsdale AZ

    21 / 100

    Remote share of openings
    3%
    Pay after cost of living
    $114k
    Remote openings
    19

    Hiring most here: General Dynamics Mission Systems, Axon Enterprise, AMI Semiconductor

    Based on 758 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Scottsdale

Full ranking

All 14 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCityScoreSample
1Austin TX100 / 1005,903
2Dallas TX85 / 1004,429
3Phoenix AZ62 / 1002,749
4Houston TX58 / 1004,330
5Addison TX55 / 100197
6Las Vegas NV52 / 100932
7Reno NV47 / 100296
8Oklahoma City OK47 / 100569
9San Antonio TX45 / 1001,282
10Irving TX43 / 100883
11Plano TX35 / 1001,051
12Tempe AZ30 / 100672
13Fort Worth TX21 / 1001,267
14Scottsdale AZ21 / 100758

How this ranking works

A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): remote share of openings 40%, pay after cost of living 30%, remote openings 30%.

A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most.

Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked.

A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.

Sample bar: cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles and posted pay; Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which city ranks first: best all-round cities for remote workers in the southwest?
Austin is the best all-round city for remote workers in the Southwest, with a score of 100 / 100.
How many cities are ranked?
14 cities have at least 100 openings, so the list has 14 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): remote share of openings 40%, pay after cost of living 30%, remote openings 30%. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most. Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Best all-round cities for remote workers in the Southwest,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-all-round-cities-for-remote-workers-in-the-southwest

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-all-round-cities-for-remote-workers-in-the-southwest">Best all-round cities for remote workers in the Southwest (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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