Open for business
Dallas workers heading back to office at highest rate in U.S., study shows
So much for that everybody-working-from-home thing. New data shows Dallas-Fort Worth workers have headed back to the office in greater numbers than workers in nine other major U.S. metros.
Figures from Kastle Systems, a provider of security services for buildings, indicate 41.4 percent of workers in Dallas-Fort Worth were at the office as of October 21 compared with pre-pandemic levels. By comparison, Kastle Systems’ 10-metro average was 27.4 percent. Kastle says this data makes Dallas-Fort Worth the “most open” place among the 10 metros.
Dallas-Fort Worth “was definitely locked down like everywhere else, but it has consistently been the least locked-down major metropolitan area that we track,” Kastle Systems Chairman Mark Ein told Bisnow. “It consistently has had the highest [office] occupancy of all markets throughout the entire period. Even in March, when everyone else was in lockdown, [DFW] was significantly more open than all of the other cities.”
To assess office occupancy habits since pandemic lockdowns went into effect, Kastle Systems has been examining keycard, fob, and app data from 3,600 buildings and 41,000 businesses in 138 cities. Its weekly back-to-the-office barometer reflects access activity in Dallas and nine other major metros:
- Houston
- Austin
- New York City
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- Washington, D.C.
- San Francisco
- San Jose, California
According to the Kastle Systems data, Houston ranks second for back-to-the-office activity, with a 37.9 percent occupancy rate as of October 21. Austin shows up at No. 5, with a 35.1 percent occupancy rate.
In last place among the 10 metros is New York City, where the occupancy rate was 17.4 percent.