Americans want it both ways. According to a recent Gallup poll, 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, but only 12 percent are happy about it. Ideally, they would prefer to live in a rural area and keep their jobs working for a city-based company, which they are doing more of since the expansion of remote work during COVID-19.

“That’s why we are seeing the move to more remote work opportunities,” said Alan Hubbard, LandAjob’s Chief Operating Officer. “For employees, the cost of living and working in a city is rapidly escaping their price range, especially in cities on the east and west coasts.

“When you factor in remote costs of driving or taking public transportation, it goes up in even more and that’s taking a huge chunk out of your paycheck each week. Those working at home saw the cost savings and how it changed their work-life balance.”

LandAjob helps Americans with disabilities collecting SSI or SSDI find work opportunities with a free database of more than 600,000 jobs when you register. They will also teach you how to receive up to $13,000 in job expenses and reimbursements.

The rise in costs of working in a city and living there are driving employees in different directions. That can be working in a city where housing costs are lower or working remotely from the house to save on transportation costs.

The rising of doing busy in the city and having an onsite staff is driving employees in a different direction to cities where housing costs, for example, aren’t so high.

“That’s a huge chunk of your pay going to just housing you,” said Hubbard. “Some companies do pay for some of the transportation costs, but employees quickly realize the value of working at home.”

Before COVID-19, Bloomberg News reported New York City has 277 residents departing every day, while Los Angeles had 201 and Chicago, 161 by using census data.

Managers and executives at the company are dealing with the problem of employees choosing to live in more affordable areas. The Gallup poll showed workers 18-29 are the only ones who would prefer to live in a suburban-metro area. After that time, the move shifts a little to more workers wanting to live in rural areas from 30-49, while after 50, the number takes its biggest jump.

“To ease the financial burden on employees and reduce overcrowding in the traditional tech hubs — as well as share more of the industry's bounty with other communities — managers should liberalize their policies,” wrote Stephanie Kasriel, the CEO of Upwork, in a recent article for CNBC.com. “They must allow employees to live and work remotely from wherever they want. If they don't, life in these cities stands to become increasingly burdensome. Already, the signs of a backlash are apparent.”

UpWork, which helps freelancers find work, has a fully distributed team. According to Kasriel, Upwork found their attrition rates to be on 14-percent lower for remote workers than with in-office employees from 2015-18.

“This is something companies are dealing with now,” said Hubbard. “For Americans with disabilities, they are also dealing with more obstacles transportation-wise in getting to work in cities. For the jobs they can be done remotely, working at home has become a very valuable option to them.

(LandAjob helps Americans with disabilities find jobs with their free database of more than 600,000 jobs in the United States. They can also help you learn how to find out how to get up to $13,000 in job expenses and reimbursement. You can register for free at www.landajob.org)