Work from home rate
This chart tracks the long-run U.S. work-from-home rate and the structural break around the pandemic. It uses Census ACS commuting data, which measure the usual primary way a worker traveled—or did not travel—to work; occasional hybrid work is not counted as working from home.
What does it show?
Remote work fell sharply from its emergency peak but remains far above its pre-pandemic baseline.
Methodology
Monthly Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes headline series: percent of full paid working days worked from home among U.S. workers ages 20–64 who earned at least $10,000 in the prior year, reweighted to CPS demographics and earnings. The December 2019 point comes from ATUS; June 2020 and September 2023 are interpolated by the source. The full series is intentionally displayed: the pre-COVID baseline, emergency-period break, and higher subsequent plateau are the comparison the chart is designed to show. CC BY 4.0. Citation: Barrero, Bloom, and Davis (2021), Why Working From Home Will Stick.