Remote is close to standard in front end work, because the deliverable is reviewable in a pull request. What is not standard is what the word means in the advert, and three of the things it hides can cost you money or an offer after you have already accepted.
This page covers those three. If you are engaged as a contractor rather than an employee, the tax mechanics are a separate subject and our remote React developer guide covers them in full: self-employment tax, quarterly payments, the home office deduction and the misclassification test. What follows is about employees, and about the advert itself.
"Remote" Can Lawfully Exclude Your State
You will meet adverts that say remote and then list eight states, or say "Remote (US) — not available in CA, NY, WA". That is lawful, and it is worth understanding why, because candidates routinely read it as a mistake or as discrimination.
There is no federal law requiring an employer to hire in any particular state, or to permit remote work at all. The characteristics federal law protects in hiring are listed exhaustively by the EEOC: it is illegal to discriminate "because of that person's race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information". Where you live is not on that list.
The reason employers restrict is administrative rather than arbitrary. Hiring one remote employee in a new state creates obligations there. Michigan's own guidance to employers is direct about the withholding side: an out-of-state company must register with the state "if the out-of-state company has created nexus (a physical presence) within Michigan". Pennsylvania goes further, on corporate tax:
"A corporation is considered to have nexus in Pennsylvania for CNIT purposes when it has one or more employees conducting business activities on its behalf in Pennsylvania. Therefore, a non-filing out-of-state corporation which has a Pennsylvania resident working at home has nexus based solely on the activities of that employee, unless the activity is protected by P.L. 86-272."
So a single remote hire can pull a company into another state's tax system. A small employer with nine engineers has a real reason to keep that list short, and it is not a judgement about you.
One honest caveat on the law here: the position above follows from the absence of any federal requirement, which is what the official sources establish. No agency publishes a rule affirmatively permitting state-restricted postings, because none is needed.
Where You Owe Income Tax Is Not Always Where You Sit
This is the part that costs people money, and it is almost never mentioned in a remote job guide.
The ordinary rule is that wage income is taxed where the work is physically performed. Connecticut states it plainly for nonresidents: wages "are subject to Connecticut income tax withholding if the wages are paid for services rendered in Connecticut", and generally are not "if the wages are paid for services performed entirely outside of Connecticut". Pennsylvania applies the same logic in both directions — a nonresident "who is required to telework full-time from home in another state should treat his compensation as non-Pennsylvania source income even if his employer is located in Pennsylvania", and in that case "the employer is not required to withhold".
The trap: the convenience of the employer rule
A handful of states do not follow that rule. If your employer's office is in one of them and you work from home in another state for your own convenience, those days are treated as worked in the employer's state, and taxed there. New York is the best-known:
"If you are a nonresident whose primary office is in New York State, your days telecommuting are considered days worked in the state unless your employer has established a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location."
And the Department is blunt about how rarely that exception is met: "In general, unless your employer specifically acted to establish a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location, you will continue to owe New York State income tax on income earned while telecommuting." Its guidance treats "normal work days spent at home" as days worked in New York State, and the bona fide office test is deliberately hard — an office qualifies only by meeting a primary factor, that the home office "contains or is near specialized facilities", or else at least four secondary factors and three others.
Two more states apply their own version, on official sources:
- Delaware. Its Division of Revenue "has long considered work done by employees from their homes to be 'attributable' to Delaware employment when the employee is working from home for their own convenience and not because the work is required by the employer". Its own form instructions add that working from a home office "does not satisfy the requirements of 'necessity'... unless working from home is a requirement of employment with your employer".
- Nebraska. Its employer circular defines "convenience rule wages" as wages "paid for work performed outside Nebraska for the nonresident employee's convenience".
And two states mirror whatever rule your home state applies. New Jersey has no convenience rule of its own, but a 2023 law provides "that this State will apply another state's Convenience of the Employer Rule on nonresidents, which would be the same as the one in the nonresident's home state" — naming Delaware, Nebraska and New York as the states that trigger it. Connecticut does the same: "Residents of states with a 'convenience of the employer' test will be subject to similar rules for work performed for a Connecticut employer."
Worth saying clearly, because published lists get this wrong: Pennsylvania is not a convenience of the employer state, despite appearing on several. Its own guidance, quoted above, says the opposite.
What limits the damage: reciprocity
Some neighbouring states agree not to tax each other's residents on wages. Michigan describes the effect: a resident "will be, in effect, exempt from any income tax imposed by a reciprocal state on salaries, wages and commissions earned for personal services performed in the reciprocal state", and conversely. Michigan's agreements run with Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota. Virginia's guidance is the same in shape — reciprocity "allows Virginia residents who have a limited presence in those states to be taxed only by Virginia" — with agreements covering the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Note that a reciprocal agreement usually requires you to file a certificate of non-residence with your employer; Michigan requires "a statement of nonresidence as described by the reciprocal agreement".
The practical question to ask before you accept: which state will the employer register and withhold in, and is that the state you will be sitting in? If the answer is the employer's state and you live somewhere else, ask specifically whether a convenience rule applies, because the difference can be a full state tax bill you did not budget for.
A Remote Role That Wants a Clearance Is Not Remote
Remote front end adverts sometimes require a Secret or Top Secret clearance. Those two words sit oddly together, and it is worth knowing why before you apply.
The rules that govern cleared contractor work do not contain a sentence forbidding a home office. What they do instead is impose conditions a home cannot meet. Under the National Industrial Security Program rule at 32 CFR Part 117, contractors must store classified material "in General Services Administration (GSA)-approved security containers, vaults built to Federal Standard 832, or an open storage area constructed in accordance with 32 CFR 2001.53", and such storage requires "approval for such storage of classified information by the applicable CSA". Open storage areas, as DCSA puts it, "are approved by DCSA".
For a developer specifically, the binding constraint is the machine, not the filing cabinet:
"The CSA must authorize the system before the contractor can use the system to process classified information."
Your laptop at home is not that system. There is also a standing prohibition on discussing classified information "over unsecured telephones, in public conveyances or places, or in any other manner that permits interception by unauthorized persons", which rules out the ordinary remote working day of calls and screen shares.
The Department of Defense states the default explicitly for its own civilian employees and Service members — not for a private contractor's staff, so read it as an indication rather than as a rule that binds a contractor job. Its telework instruction provides that "positions which require the employee or Service member to handle, discuss, or process classified material will be identified as ineligible for routine telework", permitting it only from a facility "accredited by DoD for the handling, discussion, and processing of the classified material", and adding that teleworkers "will not take classified hardcopy documents to their approved alternative worksite". Remote work arrangements must meet the same conditions.
So what does a "remote, clearance required" advert actually mean? Usually that the unclassified part of the work can be done from home and the classified part cannot, or that the role is remote within commuting distance of a cleared facility. That is a fair thing to ask on the first call, and the answer tells you how remote the job really is.
Two things about clearances themselves
- You cannot start the process yourself. As the State Department puts it: "Applicants cannot initiate a security clearance application on their own. You must have a specific conditional offer of employment." Investigations "are initiated after the acceptance of a conditional offer of employment".
- Public Trust is not a clearance. In OPM's own words, "Public Trust is a type of background investigation, but it is not a security clearance." The two are graded on different axes, which our React developer guide sets out in full.
What To Settle Before You Accept
- Which states the role is open in, and why. If your state is excluded, ask whether it is a payroll registration question. Small employers sometimes add a state for a candidate they want.
- Which state you will be withheld in — and whether a convenience of the employer rule applies to the employer's state. This is the single most expensive thing on this list to get wrong.
- The overlap hours, in writing. "Remote" and "asynchronous" are not the same word. Ask for the required hours, not the time zone.
- Whether pay is indexed to your location, and what happens to it if you move. Some employers re-band on relocation.
- For a cleared role, where the classified work happens and how often you must be there.
- Devices for real testing. Front end work is judged on real hardware. Accessibility and performance cannot be verified on a developer laptop alone, and our front end developer guide explains why those two skills decide the pay band.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do remote US jobs exclude certain states?
Because hiring one employee in a state can create registration, withholding and sometimes corporate tax obligations there. Pennsylvania, for instance, treats a single resident working from home as creating corporate net income tax nexus unless P.L. 86-272 protects the activity.
Is it legal for a remote job to refuse applicants from my state?
Yes. No federal law requires an employer to hire in any state or to offer remote work at all, and state of residence is not among the characteristics federal anti-discrimination law protects.
Which state do I pay income tax to if I work remotely?
Ordinarily the state where you physically perform the work. Connecticut and Pennsylvania both state that a nonresident performing all services outside their state is not subject to their withholding. The exception is the convenience of the employer rule.
What is the convenience of the employer rule?
A rule in a few states treating days you work from home as days worked in your employer's state, and taxing them there. New York applies it unless the employer has established a bona fide employer office at your location, a test its own guidance says is rarely met.
Which states use a convenience of the employer rule?
On official sources, New York, Delaware and Nebraska apply one directly. New Jersey and Connecticut mirror whatever rule the worker's home state applies. Pennsylvania does not, despite appearing on published lists.
Can I be taxed by two states on the same wages?
It is possible where a convenience rule and your home state's rules overlap, which is why reciprocal agreements exist. Michigan, for example, exempts residents of six named states from tax on wages earned there, on filing a statement of non-residence.
Can classified work be done from home?
Not in the ordinary sense. Classified material must be stored in GSA-approved containers, vaults or an approved open storage area, and a system must be authorised by the cognisant security agency before it processes classified information. A home office is neither.
Why do adverts say remote and then require a clearance?
Usually because the unclassified work can be done remotely and the classified work cannot, or because the role is remote within reach of a cleared facility. Ask which it is on the first call.
People Also Search For
Remote front end developer jobs USA
Standard in this discipline, but read the state list and the overlap hours before the stack requirements.
Work from home developer jobs USA
Ask which state the employer will withhold in. That answer, not the job title, decides your tax position.
Convenience of the employer rule states
New York, Delaware and Nebraska on official sources, with New Jersey and Connecticut mirroring the worker's home state rule.
Remote job state restrictions
Lawful, and usually about payroll registration and tax nexus rather than about the candidate.
Remote developer state tax
Ordinarily taxed where the work is performed. The convenience rule is the exception that surprises people after they have accepted.
Remote jobs requiring security clearance
The classified portion cannot be performed at a residence, because storage and system authorisation requirements cannot be met there.
Remote React developer jobs
The same market with a framework named. The contractor tax mechanics are covered in the remote React guide.
Front end developer salary USA
Web developers were at a $92,650 median in May 2025, with the top tenth above $162,290. Remote pay is often indexed to your location.
Related career guides
- Front End Developer Jobs in USA — what the work pays, the current outlook, and the two measurable skills that move you up the band.
- Remote React Developer Jobs in USA — the contractor side in full: self-employment tax, quarterly payments and the misclassification test.
- React Developer Jobs in USA — the clearance and citizenship filter on the federal part of this market, in full.
- Frontend Developer Coding Tests in USA — the assessment stage, and the adjustment you are entitled to ask for on a timed test.
- Senior React Developer Jobs in USA — the grade that removes your overtime entitlement, and what to price instead.
- React Front End Engineer Jobs in USA — the pay transparency rules that reach a remote advert wherever you are reading it.
Official sources
- 32 CFR Part 117, the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual rule — sections 117.10, 117.15 and 117.18; and 32 CFR 2001.43.
- Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency — open storage area approval guidance; and DoD Instruction 1035.01, Telework and Remote Work.
- US Department of State — Security Clearance FAQs; and the USAJOBS Help Center on background checks and security clearances.
- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance — nonresident FAQs and TSB-M-06(5)I on the convenience of the employer test.
- Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, Circular CT; Pennsylvania Department of Revenue telework guidance; Delaware Division of Revenue TIM 2022-2; Nebraska Circular EN; New Jersey Division of Taxation convenience rule FAQ.
- Michigan Department of Treasury — Revenue Administrative Bulletin 1988-17 on reciprocal agreements, and employer withholding guidance; Virginia Tax on reciprocity.
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — prohibited employment policies and practices.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal or tax advice. State tax rules, reciprocal agreements and security requirements change, and an individual position can turn on facts this page cannot know — confirm the current position with the relevant state revenue department, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and the employer before relying on any of it.
