Digital nomadism has become a substantial part of the U.S. workforce. MBO Partners estimated 18.5 million American workers were digital nomads in 2025, equal to about 12% of the U.S. workforce. The same report shows a population that is younger, highly connected and generally positive about its work, while still facing financial, social and practical challenges.
Contents
- How many digital nomads are there?
- Who becomes a digital nomad?
- Work, income and satisfaction
- Travel patterns and destinations
- Technology, AI and education
- Challenges of the lifestyle
- What the outlook suggests
How many digital nomads are there?
The headline estimate from the MBO Partners 2025 Digital Nomads report is 18.5 million American workers. That total was 2.2% higher than in 2024 and 153% higher than the 2019 estimate. Digital nomads therefore represented about 12% of the U.S. workforce in 2025.
MBO Partners’ estimates show how quickly the population expanded over the period covered by its reports:
| Year | Estimated American digital nomads | Reported change or context |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 7.3 million | Baseline in the 2019 report |
| 2020 | 10.9 million | 49% increase from 2019 |
| 2021 | 15.5 million | Continued expansion |
| 2024 | 18.1 million | 4.7% increase year over year; about 11% of the U.S. workforce |
| 2025 | 18.5 million | 2.2% increase year over year; about 12% of the U.S. workforce |
The 2019 estimate comes from the MBO Partners 2019 Digital Nomads report, while the 2020, 2021 and 2024 figures come from the corresponding MBO Partners reports. MBO Partners also reported that the 2024 total was more than 147% higher than in 2019. These are report estimates for their stated years, not a single continuously measured administrative series.
The 2025 total included 11.2 million digital nomads with traditional jobs and 7.3 million independent digital nomads. In 2024, the comparable figures were 10.2 million with traditional jobs and 7.9 million independent workers. MBO Partners reported a 7% decline in independent digital nomads in 2025 even as the total population grew.
Who becomes a digital nomad?
Age is one of the clearest features of the 2025 profile. Millennials accounted for 40% of digital nomads and Gen Z accounted for 35%. Together, those two generations made up 75% of the total. Gen X represented 19%, while Baby Boomers represented 6%. Digital nomads aged 55 or older made up 11% of the 2025 total.
The generational mix has changed markedly over time. Gen Z represented less than 1% of digital nomads in 2019, according to MBO Partners. In 2024, Gen X accounted for 25% and Baby Boomers for 11%, compared with 19% and 6%, respectively, in 2025.
The 2025 gender distribution was 56% men, 43% women and 1% nonbinary respondents. In household status, 54% of digital nomads were married or living with a partner.
MBO Partners reported the following racial and ethnic composition for 2025:
- White workers represented 66% of digital nomads.
- African American workers represented 27%.
- Hispanic workers represented 8%.
- Asian workers represented 4%.
- Workers from another background represented 2%.
The categories reported above do not form a mutually exclusive 100% distribution in the supplied figures, so they should be read as the report’s individual percentages rather than added together.
Education was also higher among digital nomads than in the comparison group cited by MBO Partners. In 2025, 54% of digital nomads held a college degree or higher, compared with 35% of adult Americans. Nineteen percent of digital nomads reported an advanced degree, compared with 13% of adult Americans.
Work, income and satisfaction
Digital nomads reported strong satisfaction with their work in 2025. MBO Partners found that 82% were highly satisfied with their work, while another 12% were satisfied. Only 3% reported being dissatisfied.
Income satisfaction was also positive, although less emphatic than work satisfaction. Overall, 81% of digital nomads said they were satisfied with their income. That included 41% who were very satisfied and 40% who were satisfied.
Career expectations were similarly favorable: 81% were optimistic about the future of their career in 2025. This matched the 81% optimism figure reported for 2024 in the MBO Partners 2024 Digital Nomads report.
The employment relationship can be unclear for some nomads with traditional jobs. In 2025, 13% said their employers were unaware that they were nomadic. Another 18% said their company lacked a digital nomad policy, but their boss allowed nomadic work. MBO Partners characterized roughly one-third of digital nomads with traditional jobs as hidden nomad employees. The 2024 report used similar figures: 13% said their employers were unaware, 18% said their boss allowed nomadic work despite no company policy, and nearly one-third were described as hidden nomad employees.
These results distinguish the location-flexible lifestyle from a single employment category. Some people work independently, while others retain conventional employment and operate within formal, informal or undisclosed arrangements.
Travel patterns and destinations
The average digital nomad visited 6.2 locations in 2025. That was lower than the 6.6 locations reported for 2024 and the 7.2 locations reported for 2023. At the same time, the average stay per location increased to 6.4 weeks in 2025, from 5.7 weeks in 2024 and 5.4 weeks in 2023.
| Measure | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average locations visited | 7.2 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| Average weeks per location | 5.4 | 5.7 | 6.4 |
The combination of fewer locations and longer stays describes a slower travel pattern in the reported averages. It does not establish why the pattern changed, but it provides a useful distinction between working while traveling and rapidly moving between destinations.
MBO Partners’ 2025 travel-intention figures also show a strong U.S. orientation. Thirty-seven percent planned to spend more time in the United States and less time abroad. Thirty-nine percent expected to travel exclusively within the U.S. Seventeen percent intended to spend more time traveling internationally, while 4% planned to spend the entire year outside the United States.
These categories describe intentions for 2025 rather than completed travel. They also show that international mobility is only one version of digital nomadism: a large share of the reported population expected to remain entirely within the country or shift toward more domestic travel.
Technology, AI and education
Technology is central to the way digital nomads work. In 2025, 85% said their work depended on digital connections and technology. Eighty-three percent described themselves as early adopters of technology, and 78% said they used technology to make themselves more competitive at work.
Artificial intelligence was already widespread among the respondents. Eighty-nine percent reported using AI in their work, and 88% said they were advanced or intermediate AI users. The overlap between those figures suggests that AI use was not limited to a small experimental group within the surveyed population.
The creator economy was another significant income or work connection: 49% reported earning money in the creator economy. This figure sits alongside the larger group whose work depends on digital connections, so digital nomad work can include employment, independent work, technology-enabled services and creator activity.
The technology figures help explain why location flexibility is possible for these workers, but they do not show that every nomad has the same tools, income or level of digital access. They describe reported characteristics of the 2025 digital nomad population.
Challenges of the lifestyle
The positive work and career measures coexist with practical and personal difficulties. The most frequently cited challenges in the 2025 MBO Partners report were being away from family and friends and financial stress, each reported by 26% of digital nomads.
Personal safety was cited by 25%, while travel burnout was cited by 23%. Working across time zones affected 21%, and loneliness affected 19%.
The pattern is notable because the challenges span several different parts of independent travel. Financial stress concerns resources; safety concerns the destination and daily environment; time zones affect coordination; and loneliness and distance from family concern social connection. Travel burnout reflects the demands of maintaining mobility alongside work.
No single challenge was reported by a majority in the supplied 2025 figures. The percentages instead indicate that digital nomads experience a range of constraints, with the leading concerns each affecting about one-quarter of the population.
What the outlook suggests
Interest in the lifestyle extends beyond current digital nomads. In 2025, 65 million adult Americans said they would or might become digital nomads over the next two to three years. Of that group, 14 million said yes and 51 million said maybe. MBO Partners expected only about 6% to 8% of those aspirants to actually become digital nomads.
That expectation is an estimate, not a count of future conversions. It separates interest from adoption: many people may be attracted to the idea without changing their work and travel arrangements.
Policy infrastructure has also expanded. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s countries, or 64 countries, had created digital nomad visas, according to MBO Partners. The 2024 report also listed 64 countries and described that figure as two-thirds of the world’s countries. A visa program can make longer stays more administratively feasible, but the statistic alone does not indicate how many digital nomads used any specific program.
Taken together, the available figures describe a large and still evolving workforce population. The 2025 estimate reached 18.5 million American workers, traditional-job nomads outnumbered independent nomads, and Millennials and Gen Z accounted for three-quarters of the total. Travel averages pointed toward fewer locations and longer stays, while technology, AI and digital connections remained core parts of work. The same population reported high satisfaction and career optimism alongside financial, safety, time-zone and social challenges.