Bend–Redmond tops U.S. in working from home

The Bend-Redmond metro area (defined as all of Deschutes County) is No. 1 in the country when it comes to people who work from home, a state economist said Wednesday.

Economist Josh Lehner of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said in a report posted Wednesday that a review of Census data from 288 metro areas finds “Bend is the Work from Home Capital of America,” at 12.1 percent of the workforce.

“More Oregonians work from home than the typical state,” he noted, with Oregon (where more than 7 percent of workers work from home) ranking No. 2 behind Colorado, but ahead of Vermont, Utah and Montana, with Washington ranked sixth.

Lehner said the trend is rising, with much of the increase in just the past couple of years.