Cumberland, Maryland Offers $20,000 Cash Grants to Lure Remote Workers

Cumberland, Maryland, is paying $20,000 to move to its city limits. The pilot program, titled Choose Cumberland, targets up to ten remote workers who will bring their employers with them. The offer consists of $10,000 in cash for relocation and an additional $10,000 for a home down payment or approved renovations. Recipients must establish the city as their primary residence for at least five years.

The initiative responds to a steady demographic decline that began in the 1970s. As manufacturing plants and large employers closed, the population in this Appalachian community dropped from more than 40,000 to fewer than 19,000. Mayor Ray Morriss noted the scale of the loss, stating, “At one time, the population of Cumberland was over 40,000 people.” The city is now attempting to reverse this trend by targeting workers who are not tied to a specific office location.

Morriss described the target demographic as individuals who are bringing their jobs with them. The goal is to stabilize the local economy by increasing the resident tax base. The program is currently in its pilot phase, with a strict cap on the number of grants available. Applicants must commit to a long-term stay to ensure the investment yields lasting demographic change.

Cumberland is not the only municipality using financial incentives to attract new residents. The website Make My Move lists more than 100 locations advertising cash offers. Tulsa, Oklahoma, operates one of the largest programs, known as Tulsa Remote. This initiative began before the pandemic and pays $10,000 to remote workers who rent or buy a home in the city.

Justin Harlan, the managing director of Tulsa Remote, explained that the program started as an experiment to diversify the local workforce. Tulsa has traditionally relied on the oil and gas sectors. “We started the program really as an experiment to try to diversify the labor workforce here in Tulsa, which is often reliant on oil and gas,” Harlan said. The program has expanded from approximately 70 participants in 2019 to more than 3,500.

Tulsa Remote requires a one-year residency, a shorter commitment than Cumberland’s five-year requirement. Harlan reported that the program maintains a 90% retention rate beyond that initial period. Since 2019, 75% of participants still live in Tulsa. The organization focuses on early engagement, with staff meeting each individual within their first 90 days to help them integrate into the community.

Faith Langevin moved from Atlanta to Tulsa in 2022. She cited the lower cost of living and the $10,000 incentive as primary factors. Her husband, also a remote worker, received the same payment. “I was looking for a place to move, looking for a lower cost of living, and that $10,000, there was that financial incentive and then what made it stand out was the social component,” Langevin said. She expressed no regrets about the move three years later.

Evan Starr, an associate professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Business, studied the Tulsa Remote program to understand the long-term effects of such incentives. He warned against attracting residents who come solely for the money. “You don’t want people only coming to your area for the money. They might come and just take the incentives and then as soon as any restrictions are up, then they might leave,” Starr said. He believes remote work has permanently increased geographic mobility for employees.

Local businesses in Cumberland view the incoming residents with favor. Gino Giatras, whose family has operated a hot dog shop in the city since 1918, welcomes the new neighbors. “The reason I love it is because of the people, the weather, the actvities,” Giatras said. The city aims to replicate the social integration strategies used in Tulsa while enforcing a longer residency period to secure its demographic future.