The share of workers with remote-capable jobs working from home peaked in 2020

Over 35% of remote-capable US workers worked from home 'all the time' in 2023

With more than 1.3 million remote workers, the New York City metropolitan area had more remote workers than any of the top 30 metro areas in the US at the time. However, the Austin, Texas, metro area had the largest share of remote workers, with more than 23% of the city's workforce working remotely.

Personal computers became more common in the late 1970s, making working from home more viable

As the internet and email became more popular in the 1990s, more infrastructure that would eventually support remote work was created. But the practice was still relatively uncommon until the COVID-19 pandemic, when white-collar workers first took to working from home en masse.

There's some evidence that working from home has helped the environment

Those who work fully remote can have a 54% lower carbon footprint than on-site laborers, according to one 2023 study. For instance, the share of Americans driving to work alone decreased by about 7% between 2019 and 2022, significantly reducing vehicular emissions.

People who work from home might be less likely to take vacation than in-person workers

Remote workers took 5.5% less annual vacation time than their on-site counterparts, according to one 2023 study. The researchers found that remote workers were 22% less likely to take any vacation time at all, and that when they did go on vacation, they tended to take less total time off.

In 2024, 15% of US laborers worked remotely

At the time, Frisco, Texas, had the highest share of remote workers among large US cities, at 34% (or 42,000 people). Frisco was closely followed by Berkeley, California, at 32% (18,000 people).

Gen Z prefers hybrid work over being fully remote

Contrary to popular belief, the younger generation is more likely than their older peers to want employees in the office more often. Millennials seem to have the strongest personal attachment to remote work among the generations, with 41% of remote-capable millennials saying they would be "extremely likely" to look for another job if remote options were partly or entirely eliminated at their workplace.

Read about the tax implications of remote work's increasing popularity

Tax complications can arise when a remote employee opts to work from a state where their employer had not previously done business. Demand for remote jobs has remained high since the pandemic accelerated remote work's popularity.

Remote work offers a way for companies to save money on office space

Before the pandemic, real estate costs were between 3% to 9% of the typical S&P 500 company's budget (with the exception of companies in the energy industry). Eliminating some or all of a company's expensive office leases is one way that companies can save money by adopting work-from-home models. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Why can't we just turn the empty offices into apartments?

As both rent prices and mortgage rates rise across the US, many companies have simultaneously continued operating hybrid or remote workforces post-pandemic. A podcast episode dives into why city dwellers aren't all living in their prepandemic break rooms just yet.

About 63% of employees making $100K+ salaries can work from home sometimes or always

However, only 38% of those making $50K to $100K can do the same. Some have pointed out that working from home is increasingly inaccessible to blue-collar workers and those who did not attend elite higher education institutions, furthering America's class divide.

Are people more or less productive when they work from home?

While some argue that people have fewer distractions while working from an office, making them more productive, others point to data showing some people are more productive when they eliminate their commutes and work from home instead.

Read about the pros and cons of working from home

While proponents argue that it's cheaper for both employers and employees to work from home (rather than spending money commuting to an office with an expensive lease), others point out that working remotely can make some workers feel isolated. These are just a few of the many common critiques and perks mentioned in the remote work debate.

Read a list of one digital nomad's favorite remote work locations

Roughly 18 million Americans travel the world while working remotely, hunting for hotels and cafes with solid Wi-Fi connections and weather. From Thailand to Greece, these digital nomads have worked all over the world in the years since remote work has become more popular.

Being a 'digital nomad' has become more common since the pandemic popularized remote work

Digital nomads are people who often work remotely without a specific home base, traveling from country to country or city to city, often without returning to a home address in-between.

Some parents who began homeschooling their children during the COVID-19 pandemic said the experience convinced them it was more beneficial than traditional school.

Some employers are using new technology to surveil remote workers

'Bossware' tools help employers make sure their remote workers aren't slacking off on the job, using surveillance technology to monitor employee computer activity and more.

In a survey of US Gen Z workers, 53% were freelancing for at least 40 hours per week

Overall, Gen Z has a pretty different attitude about work from previous generations, partly because of the economic hardship they’ve witnessed being born into the Great Recession and coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rise of telemedicine: A post-pandemic analysis

Before COVID-19, telemedicine remained on healthcare's periphery; however, the pandemic thrust it into the limelight, transforming how we approach medical care. This comprehensive review published by Press Ganey dives deep into the evolution,...

Over 1.9 million Americans—more than a quarter of those unemployed—have been classified as 'long-term' unemployed in a given month in 2026, meaning they've been out of work for at least 27 weeks.

See where the United States ranked in annual working hours per worker among major countries over time.

After expanding significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, homeschooling has continued to grow since.

62% of independent workers said they would prefer permanent or non-contract work

In the consulting firm McKinsey's 2022 "American Opportunity Survey," 36% of employed respondents (about 58 million Americans) classified themselves as "independent workers." But they're not all thrilled about their current professional status.

Use this interactive tool to see how long Americans have tended to remain at the same job for in various decades.

When your 9-to-5 becomes optional

You've seen the headlines. But what would actually happen if everyone's 9-to-5 became optional? We dug into the data. Traced automation philosophy back thousands of years. Examined what happened when elevator operators disappeared. Looked at Alaska's 40-year experiment paying every citizen. And investigated the Philippines, where 89% of call center jobs are now at risk. What we found was more positive than bleak. This video explores three questions: What does the data actually show? What does history tell us about this kind of disruption? And what happens when work becomes optional?

See the data comparing healthcare worker violence with other industries pre-pandemic

Nonfatal workplace violence against healthcare workers steadily climbed each year even before the pandemic. Healthcare workers comprised 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018. The violence was highest among psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals.

People in certain states can now work remotely from prison.

In the 1970s, a former NASA engineer pitched remote work as a solution to an energy crisis

His name was Jack Nilles, and he wrote a book that is considered the "founding document of telecommuting" in 1973 called "The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff," coining the terms "telecommuting and telework." Nilles argued that telecommuting could serve as an "alternative to transportation," helping cut down on gridlocked traffic and reduce society's reliance on nonrenewable resources like oil. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many private schools offered in-person classes

By early 2021, approximately 76% of private schools offered some form of in-person learning compared with 38% of public schools.

The pandemic saw Zoom overtake Skype as the default video conferencing tool

When millions of people needed to become work-from-home experts overnight, ease of use for video conferencing tools became especially important. Zoom's success was partly because the company made it easier to join meetings than Skype did—with Zoom, users only needed a URL to join a meeting, rather than downloading a fully separate app as they did on Skype. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

One-third of early- and mid-career workers have considered quitting due to stress

In 2024, around half of all full-time employees polled by the National Alliance on Mental Illness reported experiencing burnout at their jobs. Around a third of all employees ages 18 to 49 had considered quitting their jobs due to workplace stress.

Explore an interactive chart that shows peoples' annual salaries by occupation

The median salary for full-time workers in the United States was roughly $49.5K in 2024. An interactive chart details how salaries differ by occupation.

Modern workplaces were engineered for efficiency, not work-life balance

Modern work organization traces back to 19th-century scientific management, an approach that optimized output by viewing workers as machine components. That logic still persists today and contributes to burnout, stress, and disengagement. Researchers propose a "circular work" model that combines effort with recovery, learning, and renewal, suggesting productivity and well-being should align rather than compete.

The gig economy has rapidly transformed the way millions of Americans work

Rooted in flexibility and on-demand, project-based jobs, it provides opportunities for both side hustles and full-time income streams, appealing especially to younger generations seeking greater autonomy over traditional office roles. While gig work offers freedoms like flexible hours and project choice, it often lacks benefits like healthcare and retirement plans.

The number of people collecting money from gig work tripled between 2017 and 2021

That includes people driving for Lyft or delivering food through GrubHub. Those people might be changing the face of the US economy at large, too. Gig work provides a cushion between jobs outside of government unemployment assistance, for example.

Studies show H-1B workers help address shortages in STEM fields

Research finds that unemployment rates in occupations employing large numbers of H-1B workers remained low between 2004 and 2023, even during the pandemic. Other studies suggest H-1Bs complement US workers in STEM fields and expand job opportunities.

COVID-19's shock to employment rates sparked some economists to fear deflation

COVID-19 simultaneously disrupted the supply chain and the labor market. Since the unemployment rate had hit record highs, some economists were worried that the supply chain would recover before the labor market. If that had happened, businesses would have been producing goods, but no one would have been able to buy them because they wouldn't have the disposable income to do so.

Tracking where people moved in the US in 2022

The latest data from the US Postal Service's change of address request system shows a decline in migration in 2022. See where people are moving and where they are leaving with this data breakdown.

Nearly 42% of Gen Z workers have shared their salary with a coworker, compared to just 19% of Baby Boomers.

The share of the immigrant population in the US peaked at nearly 16% in January 2025

In January 2025, the US reached a historic high of 53.3 million immigrants—nearly 16% of the population. By June of that year, the number had fallen by more than a million, ending 50 years of continuous growth in the immigrant population.

In 2020 digital coupons accounted for 29.3% of all coupon redemptions

That’s compared to 28% for physical coupons, representing the year the balance of power shifted in digital’s favor. The COVID-19 pandemic era’s lockdowns increased online shopping, which accelerated digital coupon adoption.

Nearly 400,000 H-1B applications were approved in 2024

In 2024, nearly 400,000 H-1B petitions were approved, with about 65% of them renewals for existing workers. Roughly 70% of recipients were born in India, and nearly two-thirds of all H-1B jobs were in computer-related fields.

As of 2025, about 9 in 10 Americans use the internet daily

Polling finds that while most Americans have home broadband and smartphones, digital divides persist. Young adults, Hispanic adults, and lower-income households are significantly less likely to subscribe to home broadband and more likely to rely on smartphones as their primary means of internet access.

Full-time employees can cost up to 1.4 times as much as an independent worker.

Visualize the most common job in every US state, from fast food worker to home health aide

Washington is the only state where "software developer" was the most common job (thanks, in part, to Microsoft and Amazon), whereas "fast food worker" was the most common occupation in 17 states.

Most Americans are now dying at home, reversing 20th century trends

For most of the 21st and 20th centuries most Americans died in hospital settings. But in 2016, home-based deaths overtook hospitals; most Americans are now dying at home, likely fueled by individual preferences to die at home or to receive at-home palliative care.

Explore an interactive tool that provides regularly updated information on labor market outcomes of recent college graduates.

The US federal government employs roughly 3 million people

Tracking began in 1939, when the federal workforce consisted of about 1 million people. The total peaked in 1990 at 3.4 million, and hit a recent low in 2014 at 2.7 million.

Nearly 1 in 4 Americans over age 65 is still working

While many of these Americans are often working part-time, the share varies significantly by US state. While roughly 29% of those over the age of 65 work in Vermont, only about 17% do the same in West Virginia.

Renting versus owning a home, charted by age

One-third of American households are rented. The other two-thirds are owned or in the process of becoming owned, according to 2022 data from the American Community Survey. While most people rent in their younger years, homeownership rates tend to fluctuate based on age. To see home ownership and renter rates charted by age, check out these charts.

25% of US households had no regular income as of 2024

Some states had higher shares of no-income households than others: West Virginia, for instance, had a national high of 34% of households with no income. These states tend to have older populations, higher rates of disability, and lower median incomes overall. In such contexts, a larger portion of households rely on non-earned income sources or report no income during the survey period.