COLUMBUS, Ga.--Applications are now open for the Columbus Remote Worker Incentive Program, designed to attract talented individuals and families to the growing community. Selected applicants will receive a $5,000 cash incentive and an exclusive benefits package valued at over $3,700, including access to local events, co-working spaces, and unique community experiences.

Following the resounding success of the 2024 program, which drew over 7,000 applicants and brought 12 new families to the community, Columbus is expanding the program, with a goal to attract 24 households in 2025 – doubling last year’s cohort.

Read more of the full article from the Business Wire article here.

Columbus, GA is offering remote workers a $5,000 cash incentive plus a $3,700+ benefits package, including local experiences, to relocate!  Building on a successful 2024, the 2025 program aims to attract 24 households through the MakeMyMove program. 

Columbus, Georgia Invites Remote Workers: 2025 MakeMyMove Program Now Accepting Applications

West Memphis is paying people to move there.

West Memphis, Ark., is partnering with MakeMyMove

 to find remote workers to move there. MakeMyMove is a "marketplace product that connects remote workers and other work-from-anywhere talent with communities that are attracting new residents." They are paying people $5,000 to 10,000 to move to West Memphis within six months.



Read more of the full article from the MSN article here.

West Memphis, AR is offering remote workers $5,000-$10,000 to relocate! As a participant in the MakeMyMove relocation program, the city seeks self-employed professionals earning $80k+ to boost its economy. Learn about the program requirements and how to apply.

West Memphis wants to pay you thousands to move there. See if you qualify for the program

Looking for Boulder 2.0? These cities fit the bill for many remote workers.

With its stunning mountain views, vibrant downtown, and thriving tech scene, Boulder, Colorado, has long been a poster child for remote-friendly living. But if Boulder's skyrocketing housing costs or bustling pace give you pause, emerging communities across the U.S. offer similar perks. These towns combine affordability, quality of life, and incentives to attract remote workers eager to relocate, 

Discover affordable and vibrant alternatives to Boulder, Colorado, for remote workers in 2025. From outdoor recreation and cultural hotspots to relocation incentives and first-time homebuyer programs, explore eight U.S. communities that combine quality of life, affordability and unique opportunities to craft your dream life.

Looking for Boulder 2.0? These cities fit the bill for many remote workers

Jacksonville had a solid 2024, according to city officials, who say they are hoping for more of the same in 2025.

The city was able to get to work on many of its long-term projects in 2024, including a renovation of the Lake Jacksonville spillway, the early portions of a renovation of the city's sewer plant and meeting several benchmarks for its emergency services, Mayor Andy Ezard said.

Read more of the full article from the Jacksonville Journal-Courier article here.

Jacksonville, IL officials report a successful 2024 with progress on long-term projects, economic growth, and community collaboration, including attracting new residents through the MakeMyMove program. They look forward to continued momentum and bicentennial celebrations in 2025, focusing on workforce development, business attraction, and redevelopment efforts.

Jacksonville officials say city had solid 2024, hope for continuing growth in 2025

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of County Commissioners in Reno County on Wednesday spent more than 40 minutes debating the allocation of up to $90,000 to allow the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce to join the MakeMyMove platform to attempt to bring new residents into Reno County.

Read more of the full article from the Hutch Post article here.

Reno County Commissioners debate allocating $90,000 for the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber to join MakeMyMove, a platform connecting remote workers with communities seeking new residents. Learn how this initiative aims to attract talent and boost the local economy.

County approves MakeMyMove allocation

FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) - Earlier this year Fort Smith officials incentivized potential movers with thousands of dollars, tickets and memberships to local places. 

Now a recent study from the 

 has found that more than 19,000 people have expressed interest in moving to three communities in Arkansas. 

Since the program launched six months ago, more than 1,500 people have applied for the program and four have already moved or are in the process of moving into Fort Smith. The city offered up to $11,000 of incentives for people relocating.


Read more of the full article from the Yahoo News article here.

Discover how Fort Smith and other Arkansas cities are attracting remote workers with incentives up to $18,100. Learn about the economic impact, program success, and why thousands are interested in relocating to these affordable, vibrant communities.

Thousands of dollars offered to move to Fort Smith

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Four Eastern Kentucky counties have seen such success in recruiting remote workers to move there, that more counties are joining the effort, which has already brought in nearly $1 million in economic benefits.

Nearly a year ago, four counties started testing a new economic development tool that focuses on relocating people who can bring their remote jobs, families and significant economic value with them to work from anywhere in the world. The experiment went so well that 29 additional Eastern Kentucky counties have also started recruiting remote workers to the region.

Read more of the full article from the Kentucky Today article here.

Eastern Kentucky's successful remote worker recruitment program expands from 4 to 33 counties after bringing in nearly $1M in economic benefits, with incentives attracting 14 new households to the Appalachian region.

Eastern Ky. counties finding success with remote workers

Competitive housing markets, overcrowding, and a lack of community connection are just some of the reasons why remote workers are leaving large metro areas for a better quality of life in small towns across the U.S. Many of these rural communities are stepping up to attract digital nomads, offering a blend of lower-cost living, accessible amenities, award-winning school systems, and small-town charm.

Remote workers say that moving to a rural community comes with a unique set of considerations. Amenities that are commonplace in larger cities—like reliable high-speed internet and grocery stores—are not a given in small towns and need to be investigated. The criteria for selecting top rural communities evaluate the amenities that are most needed and appreciated by remote workers who are moving rural. Here's a look at 

 top picks for rural towns for remote workers, including five that pay you to move there.

Read more of the full article from the MSN.com article here.

Discover the top 18 rural communities for remote workers in the US. Explore small towns offering high-speed internet, quality schools and unique incentives. Perfect for digital nomads seeking a better quality of life away from big cities.

18 great rural communities for remote workers

FORT SMITH -- The city of Fort Smith is using an online listing site to incentivize new residency.

City officials are working with MakeMyMove, a company that helps move remote workers to grow smaller communities. The company partners with cities by listing relocation programs on its website. According to a news release from MakeMyMove, the company is recruiting people rather than companies to smaller areas to drive economic growth.

Cities can create listings for their relocation programs on the company's website where remote workers can apply. The website states not all applicants will be chosen and applicants must keep their remote job in the process of moving to economically impact their new city.

Read more of the full article from the River Valley Democrat-Gazette here.

City officials in Fort Smith are using MakeMyMove's online platform to incentive remote workers to relocate to the community. 

Program focusing on recruiting remote workers to Fort Smith uses online listing website MakeMyMove

, during the 20th century mirrored much of the rest of the US’s industrial midwest: booming growth powered by manufacturing in the early decades – then a steep decline that left its streets empty and economy in practical ruins.

Since its heyday as an industrial powerhouse in the 1960s, Evansville’s population has fallen by 18%.

But today, following decades of urban decay, downtown life in this city of 115,000 people is changing.

It boasts hundreds of new apartments, a host of breweries, a 

“It’s a more vibrant space. You’ve got more residents downtown, which means more businesses, more hotels [and] a new medical campus,” the mayor of Evansville, Stephanie Terry, said recently of the current downtown compared to a decade ago.

Read more of the full article from The Guardian here.

Discover how small Midwest cities like Evansville, Indiana are experiencing a downtown revival, attracting new residents with affordable housing, vibrant cultural scenes, and economic opportunities in the post-industrial era.

Small cities in US Rust belt are leading an urban transformation charge

If you’re looking for a Midwest move or a Southern fresh start, dozens of states and cities across the United States are offering cash incentives, grants and other free benefits to encourage 

Read the full story from U.S. News & World Report here.

Cities across America offer cash incentives and perks to attract new residents. Discover how remote workers can benefit from relocation programs and explore opportunities in various U.S. locations.

These U.S. Cities Will Pay You To Live There

 to find remote workers to move there. MakeMyMove is a "marketplace product that connects remote workers and other work-from-anywhere talent with communities that are attracting new residents." They are paying people $5,000 to 10,000 to move to West Memphis within six months.

Here is what to know about the incentive.

Read the full article from Yahoo News here.

West Memphis offers remote workers $5,000-$10,000 to relocate. Learn about eligibility requirements, application process, and city attractions for this unique opportunity to move to Arkansas.

The flexibility to work outside of your company’s home base means you can explore more affordable areas that might not have ever been on your radar. Plus, there are many places across the country ready to welcome you with open arms and some money, too.

As of August 2024, the following cities and states are offering a financial incentive to move there, with one paying as much as $20,000.

Discover U.S. cities offering financial incentives up to $20,000 for remote workers to relocate. Explore affordable living options beyond major metropolises as companies continue to embrace flexible work arrangements in 2024.

7 places across the U.S. that will pay you thousands of dollars to move there

"The $5,000 cash was nice, Mariah said, but what was really appealing to her was Hamilton County’s top ranking as a place to raise a family — they have a 3-year-old daughter — and a suite of freebies connecting them to the community and leaders." 

Read the full article from The LA Times here.

Rural towns lure California’s remote workers with cash, child care and other relocation perks.

Rural towns lure California’s remote workers with cash, child care and other relocation perks

More than two dozen Indiana cities have tapped into new funding pools created to help them recruit out-of-state remote workers to Indiana. Those efforts will bring more than 500 new Hoosiers and more than $40 million in annual economic impact to the state, according to MakeMyMove, a talent recruitment company working with the communities and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC).

New Haven is the first Indiana city to tap into each of three available funding channels for remote worker recruitment. City and state officials involved celebrated the launch of the Allen County city’s remote worker recruitment program today.

“We’re all-in on using this support to recruit new city residents and support continued investment into these efforts statewide,” said New Haven Mayor Steven McMichael, who expects to add 18 new households to his population base by working with Indianapolis-based MakeMyMove using state and local funding.

“The rise in remote work has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for communities to address their talent needs,” said MakeMyMove COO Evan Hock, crediting New Haven with working creatively to access investment funds. “Other cities grappling with population loss or talent needs can learn a lot from New Haven in terms of creative ways to invest as well as ways to incent remote workers to join them. This public-private collaboration is a model for other states to follow.”

Indiana’s remote worker recruitment program is a novel approach to economic development and one made even more important as experts estimate that the global human talent shortage will reach 

. In Indiana, workforce shortages are caused in part by population declines, retirements within the Baby Boomer generation – disproportionately larger than any other generation of Americans – and fewer young workers available to replace them. MakeMyMove is the only marketplace that matches remote workers to communities across the country offering relocation incentives and was instrumental in pushing the state to help support the effort. 

are expected to be fully remote in the next five years.

Indiana lawmakers in April 2022 passed and Governor Eric Holcomb enacted a new state law - 

 – that allows city leaders to secure funding for talent attraction and retention activities through local tax increment financing dollars. The IEDC provided $1.5 million in matching funds for Indiana mayors and economic development corporations to use to bolster their talent recruitment and retention initiatives. The program proved so popular, the IEDC added another $1 million to the matching fund element.

“As the state focuses on growing our population and bolstering our communities, the IEDC is excited to support initiatives like MakeMyMove, which has already proven successful in attracting talent to Indiana, impacting both metropolitan and rural areas,” said Tony Denhart, EVP of Workforce and Talent for the IEDC. We look forward to continuing to partner on programs like this that will help build our workforce of the future.”

Mayor McMichael seeded his program with $50,000 made available through the new legislation. The IEDC tripled that to give the city a total recruitment budget of $200,000. About half of the budget will be distributed as incentives to the remote workers. The other half funds marketing expenses and services provided by MakeMyMove that include locating and recruiting the new citizens.

New Haven’s incentive package will continue to grow and include more elements that highlight the many amenities of the city. The current package includes $5,000 for relocation, pool passes, free coffee, a Chamber membership and 

New Haven is just one of the more than two dozen Hoosier communities working with MakeMyMove to recruit remote workers, 22 of which are also leveraging IEDC dollars to boost their efforts.

Henry County, for example, in east central Indiana is the main setting of the novel Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Jr. Its $11,000 incentive package for remote workers includes $5,000 in cash for relocation along with free co-working space for a year, free Internet for a year in some locations, a free gym membership, passes to local recreational/entertainment venues and youth sports registration, among other local access passes. Icing on the cake? $

Crawfordsville, just 50 miles west of Indianapolis, also offers $5,000 cash and local amenities but sweetens its nearly $8,000 relocation package with a year of

, dinner with the mayor and a podcast interview with him, a seat on a local non-profit board of directors and season tickets to Wabash College football games.

“As Hoosiers ourselves, we’re thrilled to help the state grow,” Hock said. “The best part of our job is when these wonderful communities see themselves with fresh eyes, and we can tell their unique stories to the millions of people thinking of making a move. It’s like an updated and supercharged welcome wagon, and it’s already yielded hundreds of new residents.”

More than two dozen Indiana cities have tapped into new funding pools created to help them recruit out-of-state remote workers to Indiana. 

Two dozen Indiana cities leveraged public & private dollars to launch efforts to recruit remote workers in 2022; New Haven latest to launch

'LA is the glitz and glamour, but when you take that aside, are you actually enjoying your life?' - Vanessa Hughes

After 22 years in Los Angeles, Vanessa Hughes, 44, picked up and moved to West Lafayette, Indiana this fall.

Relocating to the Midwestern city of 45,000 people, home to Purdue University and located about 68 miles northwest of Indianapolis, has saved Hughes and her husband about $3,210 a month.

Learn more about the Greater Lafayette remote worker community.

Remote workers save an average of $20,000 per year when they relocate to a MakeMyMove community. Here's how one woman relocated from L.A. to West Lafayette, Indiana as told in Business Insider.

A 44-year-old who moved from California to Indiana saves $3,210 a month and thinks more people should consider living in the Midwest

A growing number of U.S. cities and towns are handing out cash grants and other perks aimed at drawing skilled employees of faraway companies to live there and work remotely. Such programs gained traction during the pandemic and have really taken off in just the past year or so. There were at least 24 such programs in the U.S. back in October. Today there are 71, highlighting MakeMyMove's continued work contracting cities and towns to set up such programs.

Incentives are drawing high-paid tech workers, and challenging how we think about local economic development. 

71 Cities and Towns Are Paying Tech Workers to Abandon Silicon Valley. It’s Working.

From Topeka to Bemidji, MN, localities try to boost populations with offers of cash, free coffee and grandparent stand-ins. The Wall Street Journal examines how cities and small towns across the country are luring remote workers with incentives, highlighting MakeMyMove's efforts to help remote workers do what they love in a place that they love.

Remote workers can live anywhere. Cities and small towns across the country are stepping up to the plate to lure them with perks and incentives.

MakeMyMove In The News

Recent Coverage

Columbus, Georgia Invites Remote Workers: 2025 MakeMyMove Program Now Accepting Applications

Jacksonville officials say city had solid 2024, hope for continuing growth in 2025

Eastern Ky. counties finding success with remote workers

Small cities in US Rust belt are leading an urban transformation charge

7 places across the U.S. that will pay you thousands of dollars to move there

A 44-year-old who moved from California to Indiana saves $3,210 a month and thinks more people should consider living in the Midwest

West Memphis wants to pay you thousands to move there. See if you qualify for the program

County approves MakeMyMove allocation

18 great rural communities for remote workers

These U.S. Cities Will Pay You To Live There

Rural towns lure California’s remote workers with cash, child care and other relocation perks

71 Cities and Towns Are Paying Tech Workers to Abandon Silicon Valley. It’s Working.

Looking for Boulder 2.0? These cities fit the bill for many remote workers

Thousands of dollars offered to move to Fort Smith

Program focusing on recruiting remote workers to Fort Smith uses online listing website MakeMyMove

West Memphis wants to pay you thousands to move there. See if you qualify for the program

Two dozen Indiana cities leveraged public & private dollars to launch efforts to recruit remote workers in 2022; New Haven latest to launch

These Cities (and Small Towns) Are Luring Remote Workers With Perks