This study examines correlates of preferred future work arrangements among adult residents of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, Virginia, a mid-sized U.S. metropolitan region. It focuses on whether remote-work preference varies by sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-era work-from-home experience, occupational perceptions, and attitudes toward physical interaction. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey administered in 2023, during the post-acute pandemic period. After excluding incomplete responses, duplicates, respondents younger than 18 years, cases without verifiable adult eligibility, and cases without verified residence in the study area, the final analytical sample included 636 respondents. Analyses included chi-square tests, Spearman rank correlations, a Stuart–Maxwell test of marginal homogeneity, and an adjusted multinomial logistic regression model. Among respondents with valid preference data, 63.8% preferred fully remote work. Among paired current-preferred cases, preferred arrangements differed significantly from current arrangements, with 87.0% of respondents reporting a directional change preferring movement toward a more remote arrangement. Preferred future work arrangement was significantly associated with age, education, earnings, marital status, housing tenure, perceived work-from-home efficiency, occupational remote-work perceptions, and physical-interaction importance; gender was not significant. Findings indicate substantial but socially differentiated remote-work preference, with implications for workforce planning in mid-sized metropolitan regions.

The expansion of remote work has raised new questions about how residents evaluate housing locations, particularly as daily workplace proximity may become less central for some workers and space, amenities, and lifestyle considerations may become more salient. This study examines residential location priorities and scenario-based area-type preferences across preferred future work arrangements in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, Virginia, a mid-sized U.S. metropolitan region. Data were drawn from a 2023 cross-sectional online survey of verified adult residents, producing an eligible analytical base of 636 respondents. Thirteen residential-priority items were analyzed using complete cases (n = 620). Exploratory factor analysis, supported by parallel analysis and interpreted using polychoric correlations with oblique rotation, identified two related exploratory priority orientations: a broad space/stability/community-related orientation and an accessibility/amenity-related orientation. Kruskal–Wallis tests with Benjamini–Hochberg correction showed statistically significant but generally modest differences across preferred work-arrangement groups, with the largest differences observed for proximity to the central business district and rural/suburban lifestyle preference. Scenario-based area rankings were analyzed among respondents with valid paired rankings under both in-person and remote-work conditions (n = 579). Under the remote-work scenario, suburban areas were ranked significantly more favorably, while city center/CBD locations were ranked significantly less favorably; changes in urban and rural rankings were not statistically significant after correction. These findings indicate that preferred future work arrangements and hypothetical remote-work scenarios are associated with differentiated stated residential preferences in this mid-sized metropolitan sample. The results should be interpreted as stated preference paĴerns and scenario-based ranking differences, not as evidence of actual relocation behavior, realized housing-market demand, verified access to remote-capable employment, or causal effects of remote work on urban spatial change.

This study examines correlates of preferred future work arrangements among adult residents of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, Virginia, a mid-sized U.S. metropolitan region. It focuses on whether remote-work preference varies by sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-era work-from-home experience, occupational perceptions, and attitudes toward physical interaction. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey administered in 2023, during the post-acute pandemic period. After excluding incomplete responses, duplicates, respondents younger than 18 years, cases without verifiable adult eligibility, and cases without verified residence in the study area, the final analytical sample included 636 respondents. Analyses included chi-square tests, Spearman rank correlations, a Stuart–Maxwell test of marginal homogeneity, and an adjusted multinomial logistic regression model. Among respondents with valid preference data in this nonprobability analytical sample, 63.8% preferred fully remote work. Among paired current–preferred cases, preferred arrangements differed significantly from current arrangements, with 87.0% of respondents reporting a directional change preferring movement toward a more remote arrangement. Preferred future work arrangement was significantly associated with age, education, earnings, marital status, housing tenure, perceived work-from-home efficiency, occupational remote-work perceptions, and physical-interaction importance; gender was not significant. Findings indicate substantial but socially differentiated remote-work preference, with implications for workforce planning in mid-sized metropolitan regions.