Remote workers move to Chattanooga for a better life

• Chattanooga, Tennessee bills itself as a haven for remote workers, and they may be right.
• The city’s population grew during the pandemic, while many other cities shrank.
• Newcomers enjoy relatively affordable home prices, a tight-knit community, and super-fast internet.

Rachel Pohl, a senior manager of partnerships and donations at a global software development company, and her husband, Jesse Rosenthal, a senior vice president at a health care company, realized it was time to leave San Francisco shortly after the pandemic will hit the US

His employers relaxed work-from-home policies. Pohl, from Florida, and Rosenthal, from Virginia, felt no real connection to California. Once the opportunity to leave arose, they questioned why they should stay.

“We thought, what are we doing here?” said Pohl, 32. “We both work out of our little, little two-bedroom apartment. We had nothing to do with California, other than the skyrocketing housing prices and homeless crises there. We thought, ‘It’s time to go.’

In October 2020, the couple packed what they could into their car and set off on a year-long journey to find a new place to call home. They explored a series of southern cities, from Nashville to Charlottesville, Virginia, and Asheville, North Carolina, to Charleston, South Carolina.

After seriously considering Durham, North Carolina, Pohl and Rosenthal, 38, visited a friend in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in April 2021. They were impressed by the friendliness of the residents and the manageable size of the city of 181,000.

“We thought, ‘We’re going to live in Chattanooga. We’re going to do it,’” Pohl told Insider.

The couple bought a 4,000-square-foot house in December but refused to share the price. The median listing price for a home in San Francisco is currently $1.3 million, according to Realtor.com. In Chattanooga, it’s around $300,000.

In fact, Chattanooga has a lot to like, and not just for Pohl and Rosenthal. Easy access to outdoor adventures, a strong sense of community, and blazing-fast internet speeds have made the city along the Tennessee River, which is almost equidistant between Nashville and Atlanta, an attractive destination for remote workers, especially those tired of the most expensive metropolises. 

Population figures indicate that Chattanooga has been a city on the rise for more than a decade. The city’s population has grown from 167,674 in 2010 to 181,099 in 2020, according to US Census data.

The size of its growth during the pandemic was more modest. Chattanooga population increased by 0.5%between July 2020 and July 2021, according to the Census, in line with other small US cities. By contrast, major hubs like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco lost residents during that time period.

EPB, the local electricity and internet company, reports that more than 10,000 people who started electric service between May 2020 and August 2021 did not previously list a Chattanooga address.

The city’s mayor, Tim Kelly, touts it as a haven for remote workers, and coworking space managers and many residents seem to agree.

Chattanooga’s main brag? fast internet

According to a study from the flexible work platform UpworkNearly 5 million people in the US have moved to a new location since the start of the pandemic because they can work remotely.

Sukriti Chadha, a 28-year-old product manager at Spotify, moved from New York City to Chattanooga and couldn’t be happier.

She told Insider in August 2021 that her Chattanooga housing costs were two-thirds of her New York expenses, while food is about 20% cheaper.

“I found it ticked almost every factor I was looking for in a new home: the ability to work remotely, access to nature, an airport, and good food,” she told Insider in August 2021. “I had forgotten what a blessing it is to be among trees, waterfalls, wild rabbits and the occasional family of armadillos on the back porch.”

EPB installed a citywide fiber network in 2010, making it the first US city with a gigabit network, which has put Chattanooga on list of cities with the fastest internet.

The speed is really noticeable to the residents.

“There’s wonderful internet connectivity that’s honestly better than San Francisco,” Pohl said. “There’s definitely a remote work community to tap into.”

Chattanooga coworking spaces are booming

Coworking space operators in Chattanooga said they’ve seen a rise in new members who can work remotely but still want to connect with others.

Erin Dicks, manager of e|spacesa southern coworking chain with a downtown Chattanooga location, recalled meeting a tech salesperson from Raleigh who bumped into Chattanooga during his travels, loved it and is now a member of e|spaces and pays $200 a month , said.

“For a year and a half, he was traveling on Airbnb from different cities,” he added. “He passed through Chattanooga a few months ago over the winter, and then he ended up coming back and now lives here full time.”

E|space’s membership increased 325% from June 2019 to June 2022, according to Dicks, though he declined to provide specific membership numbers.

“I’ve definitely heard of people who work for larger companies now having the option to work remotely: programmers, developers, a lot of vendors, whether it’s for startups or larger companies,” Mary Stargel, community manager at the co-working space work society, said.

Both e|spaces and the Society of Work host weekly meetups for networking and socializing.

“We have coworking memberships and then office space, but we’re really built around community,” Stargel said. “Know where you’re going to get work done, know where you’re going to greet people who know your name and who you can be with in a way that adds some structure to your day.”

Chattanooga wants to shout its advantages from the rooftop

Some cities, like Tulsa, Oklahoma and Savannah, Georgia — offer incentives to move there, such as a $10,000 grant or paying for moving expenses.

Chattanooga, right now, is relying on word of mouth alone and, so far, it’s working. (All positive mediacoverage it does not hurt.)

“I really think our quality of life here speaks for itself,” Kelly said. “What we have to do is keep telling our story and tell it well.”

Kelly said he thinks the population will continue to grow.

“There are people who want to live somewhere with a more balanced lifestyle, where they can really feel connected and connected to the community,” Kelly said. “And Chattanooga is exactly that kind of place.”