Remote workers decline in Houston
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The Houston area has a below-average percentage of remote workers, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Driving the news: Last year, 13% of Houstonians worked from home, down from 15.6% in 2021.
- The national average last year was 15%.
The intrigue: Houston had the smallest share of remote workers among the country's largest cities, including Dallas and Austin.
- Austin had the second-highest percentage in the country with 28% — nearly double Houston's number.
What's happening: Houston companies have been pushing workers back into offices, setting the standard for the return-to-office trend, the Wall Street Journal reported last year.
- About 85% of businesses had employees at their desks or had plans to do so in 2022, per the newspaper.
Yes, but: The share of remote workers in Houston is still significantly higher than before 2019, when only about 5% of people worked remotely.
Zoom out: Every state has more remote workers now than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Axios' Sam Baker and Simran Parwani report.
- And even after two years, the trend line is barely moving, according to Census figures.