How Remote Work Has Grown – and Shrunk – Since Covid
Remote work has significantly increased since the onset of Covid, peaking at nearly 28 million workers during the pandemic. Although the number has declined to about 22 million, it remains substantially higher than pre-pandemic levels. The trends in remote work have varied greatly across different regions, with some areas experiencing significant increases while others saw declines.
- ▪Remote work more than tripled from 2019 to 2021, reaching nearly 28 million people.
- ▪Sunnyvale, California, saw the largest increase in remote workers during the pandemic, with an 11-fold rise.
- ▪From 2021 to 2024, Sunnyvale experienced the largest decline in remote work, dropping by 67.2%.
- ▪Most locations in the U.S. have seen a decline in remote work between 10% and 30% since 2021.
- ▪Some warm-weather areas, like Marion County, Florida, have seen increases in remote work as people relocate for quality of life.
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Remote work surged during Covid — and while it has declined since, it’s still far above pre‑pandemic levels. I just updated my Covid Demographics Explorer with the latest ACS data, and the national trend is striking: Remote work more than tripled between 2019 and 2021, rising to nearly 28 million people at the height of the pandemic. Since then it has edged down each year, but only modestly. Even today, at about 22 million, it remains roughly 2.5 times the pre‑Covid level. The app now lets you generate this same graph for every state, as well as for counties and cities with populations of at least 65,000. See how the trend looks where you live.
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