How New York's return-to-office rate compares to other U.S. cities

The number of New Yorkers who commute to the office each week has plateaued since a post-Labor Day spike. On average, New Yorkers are in the office nearly half as much as they were pre-pandemic.

That's roughly the same as office activity in Los Angeles and within striking distance of the trend in Chicago. It's significantly stronger than in-person occupancy rates in the metro areas of Philadelphia, San Francisco and San Jose but a far cry from the numbers in Austin and Houston.

New York plunged to a 38.2% office occupancy rate around Labor Day weekend but saw foot traffic boomerang after the holiday. The recovery reached a near record high the week ending Sept. 20 when offices saw 50.1% of their pre-pandemic numbers.

Not every weekday is treated equally when it comes to in-office activity. There are now more than twice as many people working in the city's office buildings on the busiest day of the week than there are on the least busy day.

The latest data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which tracks badge swipes at commercial office buildings in 10 major U.S. cities, shows that Tuesday is the peak in-person workday for New York offices. Foot traffic last Tuesday clocked in at 63.1% of pre-pandemic levels.

On the other hand, Friday remains the least busy day with just 21% of folks working in the office compared to 2019. New York's occupancy rate on Fridays is lower than any day of the week for the nine other cities that Kastle tracks. You can read more here.

We feel strongly that workers should go back to the office. Our experience has been that being around our team and our co-workers in the office is good for both business and the soul!

Warm regards,

Stacey Froelich

How New York's return-to-office rate compares to other U.S. cities

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