5% of Americans Have Embraced the Digital Nomad Lifestyle, Report Shows

A total of 17.3 million United States citizens considered themselves to be digital nomads last year, according to the figures provided by Statista.

The same source shows that the number of digital nomads has more than doubled since 2019, VisaGuide.World reports.

The main reason for the increase, according to Statista, is the surge in remote work opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those people who can live the digital nomad lifestyle are most likely to be in professions that have a lower level of human contact in their day-to-day.

The same source reveals that, professions such as IT, finance, and communications are more suited to remote work arrangements, “whereas retail and hospitality jobs with high face-to-face customer contact are less likely to support the digital nomad lifestyle.”

The Digital Nomad Visa allows internationals to live in the United States and work remotely from there for clients or companies located outside.

7% of Americans Working as Digital Nomads

Based on the CivicScience data provided last year, 7 percent of Americans said that they are working remotely as digital nomads while 5 per cent are doing the same abroad. However, the number could further increase after 20 percent of respondents said that they are considering the digital nomad lifestyle.

The figures from the same source show that Americans consider it very important to have a job that permits them to work completely remotely. A total of 50 per cent of respondents in the workforce say that a fully remote job is at least somewhat important to them, with 24 percent saying that it is very important.

15 percent of US adults in the workforce say they have a job that permits them to work fully remotely from wherever they choose, taking into account overseas, while 26 percent are considering a job or career change in the following 12 months that would permit them to do so.

According to the report, in the United States digital nomads are divided when it comes to where they stay. A total of 46 per cent of respondents said they prefer vacation rentals like Airbnb or Vrbo while 51 percent of them opt for hotels. However, when abroad they attempt to choose hotels more often compared to vacation rentals. It shows that their lodging preferences differ based on location.

Based on the survey, just 20 percent of respondents move for a job, showing that a job is not the main reason, but political reasons are more common.