WORKATION Index: Ottawa Ranks 9th in best Cities for Remote Work 

Preply's latest study examines the conditions for remote work in 74 cities across the globe

  • Study shows Australian city, Brisbane, provides the best conditions for remote working.
  • Ottawa offers good conditions for working remotely, ranking 9th place overall. 
  • With the highest cost for international schools and housing, New York City ranks third to last.

Germany, 17. November 2021 – A recent study conducted by the digital learning platform Preply examined the 74 most populated cities worldwide to evaluate their remote working conditions. Data from the fields of "Quality of Life", "Climate and Environment", and "Costs and Safety" were analyzed.

More and more companies are making working from home or remote work possible. What used to only be feasible for digital nomads has now become a reality for many employees: WORKATION, a hybrid of work and vacation. But not all cities are ideal for working remotely. This study, therefore, created a ranking list that examines the conditions for remote work in 74 cities around the world – the WORKATION Index.

In Canada, Ottawa provides the best conditions for location-independent working. Honolulu follows in 35th place with good conditions in terms of climate and environment. The Texan city of Houston is ranked 48th, while Los Angeles is only ranked 58th, in part because it has the world's longest average travel time within a city. The northeastern cities of Chicago, ranked 69th, and New York, ranked 72nd, are at the bottom of international rankings. Although the city on the Hudson River is the only U.S. city to receive the international average when it comes to the "safety" factor (all other U.S. cities fall below average), its international schools and average rental costs are the most expensive in the world. 

The study found that Brisbane, Australia has the best conditions for virtual work. With an average temperature of 22°C, the city on the Brisbane River has proven to be the perfect temperature for working productively. The city also scores above average in terms of cost factors and healthcare system. It is closely followed in second place by the European City Lisbon. The Portuguese capital is particularly well-suited for WORKATION thanks to its consistently good to very good scores on almost all criteria. The third place is taken by the Cypriot capital Nicosia. It offers, in addition to its sights, an average of 283 days of sunshine per year and very good conditions in terms of "cost and safety". 

Table: Top 10 countries that have the best conditions for WORKATION. The following table shows a selection of the ten factors analyzed. You can find an in-depth look at the study with all its data, along with an explanation of the methodology, here: 

https://preply.com/en/blog/workation-index/

Rank
City
Travel time in the city
Average Temperature
1-Room-Apartment
1.
Brisbane (Australia)
39.88 Min.
22ºC
1,273 US$ 
2.
Lisbon (Portugal)
35.48 Min.
18ºC
1,024 US$
3.
Nicosia
(Cyprus)
25.74 Min.
20ºC
635 US$
4.
Taipei
(Taiwan)
33.74 Min.
23ºC
704 US$
5.
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
27.95 Min.
11ºC
763 US$
6.
Helsinki (Finland)
30.86 Min.
6ºC
1,197 US$
7.
Vienna
(Austria)
26.45 Min.
10ºC
1,048 US$
8.
Auckland 
(New Zealand)
37.37 Min.
15ºC
1,339 US$
9.
Ottawa
(Canada)
31.11 Min.
6ºC
1,271 US$
10.
Reykjavik
(Iceland)
19.96 Min.
4ºC
1,635 US$

"While remote work seemed like a myth to many workers just a few years ago, COVID-19 has made location-independent working a reality for a large number of professionals," said Kirill Bigai, CEO of Preply. "Having the ability to hold a meeting in your own personal getaway paradise can suddenly become a reality. This is what we call WORKATION: a hybrid of work and vacation – all you need is working internet. "

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