Remote Work Statistics
Last updated: 2026-10-28 · 13 sourced statistics
How many people work remotely depends on what you count. Counting anyone who did some paid work at home on a given day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put it at 35% of employed Americans in 2025. Counting people who teleworked during a survey week, it was 21.9% in September 2026. Counting people whose usual place of work is home, the Census Bureau found 13.8% in 2023. The figures below come from those federal surveys, the academic Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, and the UK Office for National Statistics, each labelled with its year and population.
Key takeaways
- 35% of employed Americans did some or all of their work at home on days they worked in 2025, and 70% worked at their workplace; many did both (BLS ATUS).
- 21.9% of US workers at work teleworked in September 2026, and telework made up 15.0% of all hours worked (BLS CPS).
- 13.8% of US workers usually worked from home in 2023, more than twice the 5.7% of 2019 (Census ACS).
- Hybrid is the most common remote arrangement: 26% of US full-time employees were hybrid and 12% fully remote over the year to September 2026 (SWAA), and 28% of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked in early 2025 (ONS).
- Education is the sharpest dividing line: 51% of US workers with a bachelor's degree did some work at home on days worked, against 19% of high school graduates with no college (BLS ATUS).
At a glance.
Every figure on this page in one table, each linked to its named source. Scroll down for the full context behind each number.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35% | 35% of employed people in the US did some or all of their work at home on days they worked in 2025, according to the American Time Use Survey. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results | 2025 |
| 70% | 70% of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace on days they worked in 2025; the two groups overlap because many people split the day or week between home and workplace. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results | 2025 |
| 5.1 hours | Employed people who worked at home on an average day in 2025 spent an average of 5.10 hours working there (ATUS table 6). | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results, table 6 | 2025 |
| 51% vs 19% | 51% of employed people aged 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher did some work at home on days worked in 2025, compared with 19% of those with a high school diploma and no college. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results | 2025 |
| 41.2% | Multiple jobholders were more likely to work at home than single jobholders in 2025: 41.2% of those who worked on an average day did some work at home, against 33.7% of single jobholders (ATUS table 6). | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results, table 6 | 2025 |
| 21.9% | 21.9% of employed people at work teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026 (Current Population Survey telework rate, not seasonally adjusted). | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, telework rate (series LNU0201B46B) | 2026 |
| 15.0% | Telework accounted for 15.0% of all hours worked by people at work in September 2026. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, telework hours as a percentage of all hours worked (series LNU0201B8A1) | 2026 |
| 49.0% | Of the people who teleworked in September 2026, 49.0% teleworked all of their hours that week; the rest combined telework with on-site work. | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, people who teleworked all hours as a percentage of teleworkers (series LNU0201BE23) | 2026 |
| 13.8% | 13.8% of US workers usually worked from home in 2023, down from 17.9% in 2021 and 15.2% in 2022 but more than twice the 5.7% of 2019 (American Community Survey 1-year estimates). | US Census Bureau, "New U.S. Census Bureau Data Show Detailed Characteristics of Home-Based Workers" (America Counts, January 2025) | 2023 |
| ~26% | About 26% of paid full workdays in the US were worked from home in September 2026, according to the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (academic online survey of US residents aged 20 to 64 earning at least $10,000). | Barrero, Bloom, Buckman and Davis, SWAA October 2026 Updates (WFH Research) | 2026 |
| 26% hybrid | Over the year to September 2026, 26% of US full-time employees were in a hybrid arrangement, 12% were fully remote and 62% were fully on site (SWAA). | Barrero, Bloom, Buckman and Davis, SWAA October 2026 Updates (WFH Research) | 2026 |
| 28% | 28% of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked between 8 January and 30 March 2025; the share has risen gradually since March 2022 while travel-to-work-only has declined (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey). | Office for National Statistics, "Who has access to hybrid work in Great Britain?" (June 2025) | 2025 |
| 41% vs 4% | In Great Britain, 41% of workers with a degree or equivalent hybrid worked in January to March 2025, against 4% of workers with no qualifications. | Office for National Statistics, "Who has access to hybrid work in Great Britain?" (June 2025) | 2025 |
The statistics
35% of employed people in the US did some or all of their work at home on days they worked in 2025, according to the American Time Use Survey.
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results2025
70% of employed people did some or all of their work at their workplace on days they worked in 2025; the two groups overlap because many people split the day or week between home and workplace.
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results2025
Employed people who worked at home on an average day in 2025 spent an average of 5.10 hours working there (ATUS table 6).
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results, table 62025
51% of employed people aged 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher did some work at home on days worked in 2025, compared with 19% of those with a high school diploma and no college.
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results2025
Multiple jobholders were more likely to work at home than single jobholders in 2025: 41.2% of those who worked on an average day did some work at home, against 33.7% of single jobholders (ATUS table 6).
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results, table 62025
21.9% of employed people at work teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026 (Current Population Survey telework rate, not seasonally adjusted).
Source:US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, telework rate (series LNU0201B46B)2026
Telework accounted for 15.0% of all hours worked by people at work in September 2026.
Of the people who teleworked in September 2026, 49.0% teleworked all of their hours that week; the rest combined telework with on-site work.
13.8% of US workers usually worked from home in 2023, down from 17.9% in 2021 and 15.2% in 2022 but more than twice the 5.7% of 2019 (American Community Survey 1-year estimates).
About 26% of paid full workdays in the US were worked from home in September 2026, according to the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (academic online survey of US residents aged 20 to 64 earning at least $10,000).
Source:Barrero, Bloom, Buckman and Davis, SWAA October 2026 Updates (WFH Research)2026
Over the year to September 2026, 26% of US full-time employees were in a hybrid arrangement, 12% were fully remote and 62% were fully on site (SWAA).
Source:Barrero, Bloom, Buckman and Davis, SWAA October 2026 Updates (WFH Research)2026
28% of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked between 8 January and 30 March 2025; the share has risen gradually since March 2022 while travel-to-work-only has declined (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey).
Source:Office for National Statistics, "Who has access to hybrid work in Great Britain?" (June 2025)2025
In Great Britain, 41% of workers with a degree or equivalent hybrid worked in January to March 2025, against 4% of workers with no qualifications.
Source:Office for National Statistics, "Who has access to hybrid work in Great Britain?" (June 2025)2025
When these numbers don't apply
Aggregate statistics hide a lot. Read these caveats before quoting a figure as if it describes your specific situation.
- The surveys measure different things. The ATUS 35% counts anyone who did any paid work at home on a diary day, the CPS 21.9% counts people who teleworked during the survey week, and the ACS 13.8% counts people who usually worked from home as their main way of getting to work. None of them is wrong; quote the definition with the number.
- The CPS telework figures are monthly and not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years rather than one month with the next. BLS published no telework estimate for October 2025.
- The SWAA is an academic online survey of US residents aged 20 to 64 who earned at least $10,000 in the prior year, reweighted to match the CPS. It counts full paid days (six hours or more), not partial days, and its authors note it may still oversample people who are comfortable online.
- The ONS figures cover Great Britain only (not Northern Ireland) and come from a household survey with a smaller sample than the US Census and BLS surveys.
- Most of these figures describe employees. Self-employed people are a minority in every sample here, so they say little about how freelancers or contractors split home and on-site work.
How we compiled this data
Reviewed on 2026-10-28. Every figure was read at its primary source that day. American Time Use Survey figures come from the BLS release "American Time Use Survey: 2025 Results" (USDL-26-1022, June 25, 2026), read through its Internet Archive copy because bls.gov blocks automated access. Current Population Survey telework figures come from the official BLS public data API for the three series linked from the BLS telework page, using the September 2026 values. The 2019 to 2023 home-based work shares come from the Census Bureau's January 2025 America Counts story on ACS table S0801; we did not find a Census publication of the 2024 share, so it is not quoted. SWAA figures come from the authors' October 2026 update (latest wave September 2026), and UK figures from the ONS article published June 11, 2025. We removed the previous version's figures that linked only to homepages (a ~28% WFH share, a Gallup 'hybrid majority' claim and a ~6% World Bank transfer cost), a ~1 in 7 Census figure we could not match to a publication, and an Upwork freelancer count that belongs on the freelance statistics page.
We hand-collected each figure from its original publisher rather than recycling secondary round-ups, cross-checked the headline numbers against the source documents in 2026-10-28, and link every statistic to the report it came from so you can verify it yourself. Where a publisher issues annual updates, we cite the report edition and flag the year inline.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Americans work from home?
It depends on the definition. In 2025, 35% of employed people did some or all of their work at home on days they worked (BLS American Time Use Survey). In September 2026, 21.9% of people at work teleworked during the survey week (BLS Current Population Survey). In 2023, 13.8% usually worked from home as their main commute mode (Census American Community Survey).
Why do remote work statistics disagree so much?
Each survey asks a different question. A daily time diary catches anyone who answered email at home for an hour, a weekly telework question catches anyone who teleworked at least once that week, and the Census commuting question records only the usual way someone gets to work. The narrower the definition, the smaller the share.
Is hybrid or fully remote work more common?
Hybrid. Over the year to September 2026, 26% of US full-time employees were hybrid and 12% were fully remote (SWAA). Among CPS teleworkers in September 2026, 49.0% teleworked all their hours and the rest mixed home and on-site work.
How many people work from home in the UK?
The ONS found that 28% of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked between January and March 2025, and that hybrid working was more common among employees than among the self-employed.
Does remote work change how freelancers invoice?
The statistics show where people work, not how they bill. In practice, a remote contractor may have clients in other states or countries, which raises questions about which jurisdiction's tax rules apply and which currency to bill in. The remote work tax guide and currency converter linked below cover those steps.
Put these figures to use
- Taxes hub: Guides to sales tax, VAT and income tax questions that come up when you invoice clients.
- Remote work tax: state rules and cross-border basics: Which state taxes remote income, the convenience-of-the-employer rule, and records to keep.
- Currency converter: Check an exchange rate before you invoice a client in another country.
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