Would you like to move to Tulsa? Would you like to do it for $ 10K?

By Hamza Shaban | Washington Post

Working from home could become even more rewarding.

Tulsa is trying to attract people by offering remote workers and entrepreneurs $ 10,000 to move there. If they agree to stay for at least a year, workers will receive a cash amount including rent subsidies and allowances.

The Tulsa initiative is the latest effort to convince people to move to smaller cities. The programs offer benefits and incentives of many thousands of dollars, hoping to attract workers who might otherwise move to larger metropolitan areas. Since the financial crisis, the most prosperous cities in the country have become more dominant economically. According to a Brookings Institution report on economic inequality, the rise of information technology has rewarded areas that are already highly developed.

Nicknamed Tulsa Remote, the program is sponsored by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, whose website has received more than 6,000 applications since it went online earlier this month, according to Ken Levit, executive director of GKFF.

Levit said Tulsa Remote was part of a broader strategy to make the community more dynamic and inclusive and boost its economic development by energizing and diversifying its business. "I am surprised and excited by the response, by the tremendous momentum from the box," he said.

According to statistics from the Department of Labor, the Tulsa metropolitan area has an unemployment rate of 3%, which places it at the 110th rank of the regions, but remains below the national rate of 3.7%.

To be eligible for Tulsa Remote, applicants must be at least 18 years old and be employed by a company that allows them to work remotely. Contractors who do not reside in Tulsa County may also apply. The total of $ 10,000 over one year covers $ 2,500 for moving expenses, monthly payments of $ 500 to cover rent and $ 1,500 after living in Tulsa for one year, according to Levit. "There are other benefits that make the offer even richer, including additional help with renting around $ 300 a month," Levit said. Candidates will go through a video interview and visit the city before receiving an offer.

Remote employees and contractors moving to Tulsa will also be offered a free coworking space for business, offered by 36 Degrees North, in downtown Tulsa, according to Levit.

According to CNBC, several other cities offer major incentives to people wishing to settle elsewhere. Students who have graduated from a STEAM program in the last 10 years (science, technology, engineering, arts or mathematics) can get up to $ 15,000 from the St. Clair Community Foundation to repay their loan student they move to St. Clair, Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 3.9 percent. The Hamilton Community Foundation in Hamilton, Ohio, offers recent college graduates up to $ 5,000 to be resettled, if they have ever found a job there. The region has an unemployment rate of 3.7%. And in New Haven, Connecticut, people can get a $ 10,000 interest-free loan on their first home. The unemployment rate is 3.9%. To encourage residents to settle even deeper, families could be eligible for $ 40,000 for tuition in state colleges if their children were leaving public school in New York. Haven.