no RTO here

Techy Dallas suburb is No. 1 hot spot for remote workers in U.S.

Working from home comes with its own challenges, like picking which part of the couch to work from.

Even as many major companies are enacting return-to-office policies across the country, there's a stronghold in the Dallas area where remote work prevails. A new SmartAsset survey of cities with the biggest remote workforces has revealed Frisco is the No. 1 city with the highest share of remote workers in the nation.

The study found over 40,000 Frisco residents work from home, which is more than a third of all of the city's workers aged 16 and older (117,193 total workers).

Though Frisco's remote workforce has shrunk by more than 6,000 people since 2024, the suburb still has the highest percentage of remote workers out of all 349 cities included in the report.

Unfortunately for Frisco workers who do have to go into the office, they have to endure an average 30 minute commute to get to their workplaces. That's a lot of time spent sitting in traffic every day, and that's if the weather decides to cooperate.

The study also analyzed the methods of transportation that Frisco workers are using to get to work. The findings show that a majority of workers (57.16 percent) drive themselves to their place of employment, while only 6.39 percent carpool. Less than one percent of all Frisco workers walk (0.89 percent) or use public transit (0.01 percent) to get to work, which is not surprising considering the poor walkability of the metro area in general. Less than two percent of workers commute "via other means," which the study did not elaborate on.

Remote workforce populations across Dallas-Fort Worth
Overall, the population of remote workers appears to have dropped throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, but the proportion of remote workers is still higher than in many other U.S. cities.

McKinney has the 27th largest remote workforce nationally, despite having 654 fewer remote workers than it did last year. According to the study's data, 26,601 McKinney residents currently work from home, which represents 42.23 percent of the total worker population.

Dallas (No. 146) has the highest number of remote workers in the Metroplex, at more than 95,000 people, but technically falls behind nearly every other North Texas city since it only amounts to 14.02 percent of all workers. And despite the constant Dallas traffic, the report says the city's average commute time is less than 26 minutes, but we think it's safe to say that math doesn't quite add up.

Fort Worth (No. 153) slipped nine spots over the last year with 67,515 remote workers, or 13.64 percent of the total workforce. The city's remote work population has 4,675 fewer people than it did in 2024, which means more residents are having to drive about 27.4 minutes on average to get to work.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the most people working from home are:

No. 1 – Frisco, Texas
No. 2 – Berkeley, California
No. 3 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 4 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 5 – Carlsbad, California
No. 6 – Highlands Ranch, Colorado
No. 7 – Arlington, Virginia
No. 8 – Seattle, Washington
No. 9 – Carmel, Indiana
No. 10 – Boulder, Colorado

SmartAsset analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for 349 of the largest U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more. Cities were ranked by the percentage of those who worked from home out of all workers aged 16 and over.

frisco texas remote workforces us cities work from home smartasset report workforce

RIP Ray

Dallas lawyer and one-time club owner Ray Balestri dies at 64

Courtesy photo

Ray Balestri

Dallas lawyer and investor Ray Balestri, who circulated through Dallas' media and entertainment world, died on January 4; he was 64.

Balestri was an attorney at Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP, which issued a statement saying that he left behind a legacy of excellence, mentorship, and professionalism.

“We are deeply saddened by Ray’s passing. He was an invaluable member of our team, a mentor to many, and a trusted advisor to his clients," the statement said. "His contributions to the legal profession and the business community were extraordinary, and his legacy will endure.”

His brother-in-law Sean Macy, who posted the news of his passing, called him a good friend to all, a man bigger than life, and a devoted family man.

Balestri grew up in Rockford, Illinois, attended Harvard Law School, and taught classes at SMU's Cox School of Business. In addition to his roles as lawyer and private equity investor, he co-founded '90s Deep Ellum bar The Bone and occasionally wrote for publications such as D magazine, penning columns such as the one on how to fix America's income tax system. According to this 2000 Dallas Observer story, he became a multimillionaire after investing early in Broadcast.com, the company founded by Mark Cuban.

In more recent years, Balestri was prodigious on social media, posting anecdotes about his family and century-old home.

Friends and associates described him as a person who used his skills to make a difference as well as an inspiration to those around him.

He's survived by his wife Heather Macy Balestri and two sons Quentin and Julian, as well as brothers David and Brian, and sister Becky. A memorial service will be held on Monday, January 13 at 3 pm at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

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