Over the last four years, more than 2,000 people have moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma because of Tulsa Remote, a program sponsored by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) that pays remote workers $10,000 to move. It was one of the most widely publicized bids by a city to become a hub for remote work — and so far, it’s succeeding, according to two recent studies of the program. The remote workers who moved to Tulsa have a higher standard of living than they had before, they’re engaged in their new community, and most plan to stay.
Tulsa’s Big Bet on Remote Workers
A program paid workers $10,000 to relocate to Tulsa. And two recent studies suggest the investment was worth it.
January 13, 2023
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Summary.
More than 2,000 people have moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma because of Tulsa Remote, a program that pays remote workers $10,000 to move. And two new studies suggest the program is working: the participants are experiencing a higher standard of living due to the city’s low housing costs, and are engaged in the community. But there are challenges for other cities looking to copy the model. For one thing, the cities with the most remote work are the same big “superstar” cities that dominated the pre-pandemic economy.