An estimated 86.3% of San Francisco employees are working from home, the highest rate among 10 major U.S. metro areas. That figure slightly edges out New York at 86.1%. The San Francisco work-from-home rate held steady from the week prior, while New York increased slightly. 

Nationally, among the 10 major cities measured, the average work–from–home rate is 75.2%, according to exclusive RemoteWork360.com analysis of office occupancy data collected by Kastle Systems, which measures office keycard swipes through its commercial security systems. 

The three major Texas metro areas, Austin, Dallas and Houston, started with the lowest work-from-home rates in the nation and all declined in the past week, indicated that people continue to return to offices and workplaces in the Lone Star state. On March 10, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was the first to rescind most coronavirus restrictions, including mask mandates, and allowed business to set their own capacity limits. 

Despite one of the lowest work-from-home rates in the nation, Austin has received a flood of relocating businesses, and was the subject of a December WSJ article detailing its work from home success. 

Outside Texas, the only other city to register a decline was San Jose, whose work-from-home rate ticked down slightly from 83.0% to 82.7%. 

Los Angeles experienced an increase in its work-from-home rate from the week prior, from 75.0% to 77.5%, despite March decreases in reported Covid cases, hospitalizations, deaths and test positivity rates.  

Work–from–Home Rates in 10 Major Cities 

Source: Kastle Systems, RemoteWork360.com analysis