Tulsa Remote: Get $10,000 to Move to Tulsa

Remote worker? Tulsa would give you $10,000 to move there.

Based on reporting by The Washington Post (November 2018).

Tulsa set out to attract remote workers and entrepreneurs by offering them $10,000 to move there — as long as they agreed to stay at least a year.

The initiative, dubbed Tulsa Remote, was sponsored by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) and was the latest in a wave of programs dangling perks to draw workers away from major metro areas. Since the financial crisis, prosperity had concentrated in already-dominant cities, and a Brookings Institution report had traced how information technology rewarded the densest areas. Smaller cities were fighting back with cash.

The $10,000 package broke down as $2,500 in moving expenses, $500 a month toward rent, and a final $1,500 after a year in Tulsa — plus about $300 a month in additional rental assistance and free co-working space at 36 Degrees North in downtown Tulsa. Applicants had to be at least 18, work remotely (or be entrepreneurs outside Tulsa County), and went through a video interview and a visit before receiving an offer.

The response was immediate: GKFF's Ken Levit told the Post that more than 6,000 applications arrived within weeks of the site going live. "I am surprised and elated by the response, by the enormous amount of momentum out of the box," he said. Tulsa's pitch was simple — a 3-percent unemployment rate (below the national 3.7 percent), a vibrant and inclusive community, and a real shot at energizing and diversifying the local economy.

Tulsa wasn't alone. At the time, St. Clair, Michigan, offered recent STEAM graduates up to $15,000 toward student loans to relocate; Hamilton, Ohio, offered recent grads up to $5,000; and New Haven, Connecticut, offered first-time buyers $10,000 in interest-free home loans plus up to $40,000 toward in-state college tuition for kids who graduated from New Haven public schools.

What happened next

Tulsa Remote became the most famous relocation-incentive program in America — and it worked. It has since brought thousands of remote workers to Tulsa, continues to operate today, and is widely studied as the model for dozens of copycat programs across the country. Research has credited it with hundreds of millions in economic impact and a multiplying return on every dollar spent.

Originally published November 2018; updated with outcomes.