West Virginia wants to pay remote workers to live there. I tried it out.

Over the last decade, the population has declined by 59,000 – or 3.2 per cent, Richard Hall writes

The view from an overlook at Coopers Rock State Forest just outside of Morgantown, West Virginia (Richard Hall / The Independent )

It’s just past 5pm when I jump in my car in the centre of Morgantown and head for the highway. A winding road takes me up a steep hill and out of this West Virginia mountain town, onto a road heading northeast. In less than 25 minutes I’m driving underneath a thick canopy of trees that opens to a clearing in a spacious car park. A few minutes more and I’m gazing out across a stunning forest-covered valley with a river running through it and eagles flying overhead.

From a desk to heaven in under half an hour — this is what West Virginia’s tourist board hopes will entice you to move to the state. And once you’re here, they want you to stay.

As part of a new scheme to reverse a dramatic population decline and boost the struggling economy, the Mountain State is offering an eye-watering sweetheart deal to lure a generation of remote workers.