Big city livin' is bustling, fast-paced and expensive. If you happen to live in one, you're paying a small fortune for a cramped apartment and have done the “rent math" in your head more than once. It goes something like this, “I could be living in a much better place somewhere else."
Well, guess what? That somewhere else will give you free money just for moving there. The money you receive can be used to cover moving costs, paying down student loan debt or tax breaks.
Here are seven cities or states that will pay you to live there.
If you're a remote worker, the world is your oyster. So, how about Vermont?
Vermont's Remote Worker Grant Program will pay 100 people up to $10,000 to move there in 2019. The grant covers moving expenses and membership fees for co-working spaces, to name a few.
After the first 100 are chosen, the number of accepted applicants per year goes down to 20 people each year. In order to qualify, you need to be employed full-time by a business outside of Vermont.
Just like Vermont, Oklahoma has the Tulsa Program, which pays remote workers $10,000 to move there for a year.
This program also reimburses you for membership to a co-working space (worth $1,800) and up to three months of discounted rent in a furnished apartment in Tulsa's Arts District.
If you have student loan debt in specific health-related fields, you can move to Washington state and receive up to $75,000 in reimbursements through the Washington State Loan Repayment Program. But in order to qualify, you need to live there for three years.
Kansas offers student loan repayments of up to $15,000 and a five-year tax waiver for those who live in a Rural Opportunity Zone (ROZ). There are 77 counties that are authorized to offer at least one of those incentives.
Go to Niagara Falls to get some fresh air and your student loans paid.
The City of Niagara Falls will pay $3,492 per year and up to $6,984 for two years towards your student loans. Requirements for eligibility include living in one of their “targeted neighborhoods" and proof of being in good standing with your student loan lender, landlord or mortgage agency (if you own a home).
The Motor City wants you to take advantage of an up-and-coming downtown area through Opportunity Detroit. The program encourages you to take advantage of work opportunities specific to the downtown area, including starting your own business.
With Alaska's Permanent Fund, residents receive roughly $2,000 per year thanks to the state's oil royalties.
This amount varies each year, but free money is given to residents and their kids. In 2015, that amount was $2,072 a person. For a family of four, that comes out to $8,288.
Here's a complete list of the loans and incentives Alaska offers.
Claire Tak is a writer who previously served as head of content and chief editor for FinTech companies in New York and San Francisco. Her work has appeared on FOX Business, Bloomberg and Forbes. She writes regularly about travel, money and being a good human. Traveling and snowboarding are her two favorite things to do.