San Antonio still has more remote workers than before COVID

The share of people working from home in San Antonio has decreased slightly from a pandemic-era high, but it is still far above what it was before COVID-19 hit.

Why it matters: Remote work is affecting San Antonio's cityscape as local companies have pulled out of downtown office space, leaving fewer employees to support a daytime economy downtown.

By the numbers: 14.8% of San Antonio metro area workers were working from home as of 2022, compared with 15.8% in 2021, per new Census Bureau figures released this month.

• Just 4.8% of San Antonio workers were working from home in 2019.

The big picture: Workers in America's biggest, most competitive cities aren't giving up the flexibility and savings — in both time and gas money — of working from home, Axios' Sam Baker and Simran Parwani report.

What's happening: Every state has more remote workers now than in 2019, before the pandemic.

• Even after two years, the trend line is barely moving, according to the Census figures.

Zoom out: Overall, 15% of the U.S. worked from home last year — but the numbers are generally much higher on both the East and West coasts.

• Austin had the second highest share of remote workers of any metro last year, at 28%. It fell behind Boulder, Colorado.

The bottom line: Companies are trying to find a balance between remote and in-person work.

What we're watching: How remote work could change our downtowns.