Digital nomading marks a shift in how professionals are approaching careers and work-life balance. The number of self-described digital nomads skyrocketed post-pandemic. Here’s a look at 2024’s digital nomad statistics.
What is a digital nomad?
For much of the workforce, the days of being tethered to a desk in the workplace are gone. Work is what—and where—digital nomads make of it, bouncing from place to place, country to country.
Anthropologist and digital nomad expert Dave Cook, in his 2023 paper “What Is a Digital Nomad?” defines these travelers as those who “use digital technologies to work remotely[.] [T]hey have the ability to work and travel simultaneously, have autonomy over frequency and choice of location and visit at least three locations a year that are not their own or a friend’s or family home.”
Olga Hannonen, in her 2020 paper “In Search of a Digital Nomad,” describes digital nomadism as “a novel mobility type that is a result of the incorporation of mobile technologies in everyday life and different types of work settings. This growing lifestyle undermines traditional sedentary perspectives and attachments to home, work and even nation-state.”
Here are some stats regarding the current status of digital nomading:
- MBO Partners reports that as of 2023, there are 17.3 million American workers who currently describe themselves as digital nomads—a 131% increase from pre-pandemic numbers.
- 11% of workers from the United States described themselves as digital nomads at this time.
- Digital nomads are also varied in the workforce. Buffer reports that 53% of the 3,000 remote workers polled described themselves as employees, while 43% are instead independent consultants or freelancers. Just 4% described themselves as business owners with at least one employee.
Where are digital nomads from?
A McKinsey & Company analysis states that the pandemic has played a crucial role in this shift by “[breaking] through cultural and technological barriers that prevented remote work in the past, setting in motion a structural shift in where work takes place, at least for some people.”
- The digital nomad trend does appear to be concentrated, at least in part, by nationality. Data from Nomad List shows that 45% are American citizens, 7% are from the United Kingdom, and 5% are Russian.
“It’s mostly countries from the global North,” Cook explains. He also notes that a high proportion of American digital nomads travel domestically. “They’re able to cross time zones and get into different climates without crossing a border.”
That may well be easier, given the tax implications for digital nomads, who need to control their tax residency and closely monitor exactly how many days they’re able to remain in each location to meet the terms of their visas. “If you’re traveling internationally, there’s an extra level of bureaucracy and expertise you need to develop to make it work for you,” Cook says.
The rising interest in the digital nomad lifestyle has led various countries to develop and offer digital nomad visas, which allow visitors to stay longer and enjoy the economic benefits of longer-term spending without drawing on state resources. There are often requirements put in place to regulate this, like minimum earnings per year.
Digital nomad job satisfaction
However, these visas may contradict the core concepts of digital nomadism: short-term stays and frequent movement. The “Digital Nomad Visa Whitepaper,” written by Lily Bruns and Leanna Lee, elaborates on the complexity of digital nomad visas and how they often offer a year or more, limiting the ability to move freely. Cook notes that there are increasingly blurred lines regarding nomadism as a form of tourism, migration or immigration.
- Despite those issues, remote workers seem happy, with 98% of respondents in Buffer’s “State of Remote Work 2023” report indicating that they’d “like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of their careers.”
- 22% said the greatest benefit of remote work “is flexibility in how they spend their time, for 19% it’s flexibility in where they choose to live, and for 13% it’s the flexibility to choose their work location.”
“Escapism and adventure are the ‘pull factors’ for digital nomadism,” Cook says. “The ‘push’ factors are rejecting the nine-to-five, micromanagement, commutes to the office and the traditional idea that we need to be physically located near the places we work.”
Bruns and Lee’s whitepaper also details the perks of digital nomadism, including opting for countries where the cost of living is lower to save money, increased purchasing power and improving one’s standard of living.
Despite the stereotypical image of a digital nomad on a beach, cocktail in one hand and laptop in the other, it’s not always idyllic. “Trying to develop a client network or business while traveling can lead to overwork, and adventure and leisure sometimes get sidelined,” Cook says. “Work-life balance can be a struggle, and moving every few weeks is disruptive.”
Digital nomad demographics
Some digital nomad parents handle these challenges by opting for the “slowmad” route: changing locations at a slower pace and visiting fewer places than other digital nomads. This allows for more stability for their families.
- MBO Partners found that 53% of digital nomads polled “are married or living with a partner,” and 24% “report traveling with their children.” The agency notes that digital nomads cite traveling with kids as being difficult due to additional expenses, health and safety concerns, a lack of routine, educational challenges and socialization worries.
- As for age, digital nomads tend to be younger. Nomad List shows that 59% are in their 30s, and 11% fall between ages 24 and 29.
- “It skews to a millennial trend, though it’s also becoming a Gen Z trend,” Cook adds. MBO Partners’ data shows a similar pattern, with 58% of digital nomads falling into the millennial and Gen Z groups.
The landscape is also shifting. “One of the things I’ve seen post-pandemic is coworking spaces becoming more collaborative,” explains Cook, citing his research in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where people affected by Silicon Valley layoffs in the last year were banding together. “They had taken their redundancy packages and were working together in teams to create startups and minimum viable products.”
Work and travel blur together for digital nomads, reshaping the traditional understanding of careers and mobility. It’s an evolving landscape, but that suits them just fine. It’s what they’re used to, after all.
This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine. Photo by tonkid/Shutterstock.com.
