Contents
- Work from home participation statistics: U.S. rates by age, sex, and race
- Work from home participation statistics: education and disability rates
- Work from home participation statistics: participation by occupation
- Work from home participation statistics: differences by worker and earnings group
- Work from home participation statistics: how often employed people worked at home in 2025
- Sources
Work from home participation statistics: U.S. rates by age, sex, and race
In the first quarter of 2024, 22.9% of U.S. people aged 16 and over who were at work teleworked or worked at home for pay. The measure includes people who worked remotely for some, but not necessarily all, of their hours. It describes a person’s work status during the survey reference week, rather than whether home was that person’s usual workplace. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
Age differences were visible in that quarter. Among people at work aged 16–24, the rate was 7.9%. It was 25.1% for those aged 25–54 and 24.4% for those aged 55 and over. The 25–54 and 55-and-over groups therefore had similar reported rates, while the youngest group’s rate was lower. These are proportions within each age group, not the shares of all teleworkers represented by those ages. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
| Group of people at work | Teleworked or worked at home for pay, Q1 2024 |
|---|---|
| Total, age 16 and over | 22.9% |
| Age 16–24 | 7.9% |
| Age 25–54 | 25.1% |
| Age 55 and over | 24.4% |
| Men, age 16 and over | 21.1% |
| Women, age 16 and over | 24.9% |
| White | 23.2% |
| Black or African American | 17.1% |
| Asian | 32.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, any race | 12.4% |
Rates are among people in each group who were at work; Q1 2024, not seasonally adjusted. The race categories shown do not represent every race. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
By sex, the rate was 21.1% among men aged 16 and over who were at work and 24.9% among women in the same broad age range. These figures do not describe all men or women: people had to be employed and at work in the reference week to enter the denominator.
The reported race and ethnicity groups also differed. The rate was 23.2% for people at work in the White category, 17.1% for people in the Black or African American category, and 32.8% for people in the Asian category. Separately, 12.4% of people at work of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity teleworked or worked at home for pay; that ethnicity measure includes people of any race. Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity should not be treated as mutually exclusive categories. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
For three race groups with observations in both first quarters, the reported rates were higher in Q1 2024 than in Q1 2023. White workers’ rate was 19.3% in Q1 2023 and 23.2% in Q1 2024. The Black or African American rate was 15.6% and then 17.1%; the Asian rate was 31.9% and then 32.8%. These are comparisons of two quarterly observations, not a complete annual series or evidence about what caused the changes. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
Work from home participation statistics: education and disability rates
Education rates in the CPS table apply to people aged 25 and over who were at work. In Q1 2024, the rate was 3.5% among those with less than a high school diploma, 8.5% among high school graduates with no college, and 18.3% among those with some college or an associate degree. It reached 40.4% for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The last category includes bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
The table also separates bachelor’s degree only from advanced degrees. Among people at work aged 25 and over, the Q1 2024 rate was 38.4% for those with a bachelor’s degree only and 43.6% for those with an advanced degree. Read together with the broader 40.4% figure, these detail rows show why it matters to preserve the source’s education categories: “bachelor’s degree or higher” combines groups that have distinct reported rates. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
| Education among people at work aged 25 and over | Teleworked or worked at home for pay, Q1 2024 |
|---|---|
| Less than a high school diploma | 3.5% |
| High school graduates, no college | 8.5% |
| Some college or associate degree | 18.3% |
| Bachelor’s degree and higher | 40.4% |
| Bachelor’s degree only | 38.4% |
| Advanced degree | 43.6% |
Each rate uses people in the listed education group who were at work as its denominator. The bachelor’s-only and advanced-degree rows further describe the broad bachelor’s-and-higher grouping. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
Disability status presents a different comparison. In Q1 2024, 24.4% of people at work with a disability teleworked or worked at home for pay, compared with 22.8% of those with no disability. In the corresponding Q1 2023 observations, the rates were 20.2% and 19.6%, respectively. The measured rate was higher in Q1 2024 for both groups; the figures do not establish why. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
Hours status offers another way to describe the people at work. In Q1 2024, the rate was 24.5% among full-time workers and 15.1% among part-time workers. For this table, full-time means 35 hours or more per week, while part-time means 1 to 34 hours per week. These classifications refer to hours worked, not to how many days someone worked at home. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Table 1
Work from home participation statistics: participation by occupation
Occupation has a pronounced relationship with the share of people at work who teleworked or worked at home for pay in the Q1 2024 CPS measure. The rate was 37.9% in management, professional, and related occupations, and 24.9% in sales and office occupations. The rate was 5.4% in service occupations. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Chart 3
The remaining reported occupation groups had rates of 3.2% in production, transportation, and material moving occupations and 3.2% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations. Those equal reported percentages describe broad occupation groupings; they do not mean that every job within either grouping had the same telework pattern. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Chart 3
| Occupation group | Teleworked or worked at home for pay, Q1 2024 |
|---|---|
| Management, professional, and related | 37.9% |
| Sales and office | 24.9% |
| Service | 5.4% |
| Production, transportation, and material moving | 3.2% |
| Natural resources, construction, and maintenance | 3.2% |
Rates are among people at work in each occupation group, not the shares of all teleworkers who held those jobs. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Chart 3
Each listed occupation group also had a higher rate in Q1 2024 than in Q1 2023. Management, professional, and related occupations moved from 33.3% to 37.9% across those observations. Sales and office occupations were at 20.9% and then 24.9%; service occupations, 3.8% and then 5.4%. Production, transportation, and material moving occupations were at 2.4% and then 3.2%, while natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations were at 2.0% and then 3.2%. The figures document the two quarters shown; they do not describe every intervening quarter. Source: BLS, “Telework trends,” Chart 3
The occupation groups are useful for seeing how uneven paid telework participation was across broad job families. They are not a measure of whether a particular task can be done remotely, nor do they indicate whether an employer offers a remote option. The CPS rate counts people who actually teleworked or worked at home for pay during the reference week, including those who did so for only part of their work hours. Source: BLS, “Telework trends”
Work from home participation statistics: differences by worker and earnings group
A separate BLS survey, the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), reports work performed at home on an average day in 2025. Its Table 7 measure concerns the main job only and gives the percentage of those who worked in each category who worked at home. Among employed wage and salary workers, 31.9% worked at home on their main job on an average day. The age scope is employed people aged 15 and over, and the statistic is a 2025 annual average. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 7
The occupation figures in this table use main-job occupation categories. On an average day in 2025, 57.0% of employed people in management, business, and financial operations worked at home on their main job among those who worked that day. The corresponding figures were 44.5% in professional and related occupations, 34.7% in sales and related occupations, 28.6% in office and administrative support, and 11.5% in service occupations. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 7
| Main-job group | Worked at home on an average day in 2025, among those who worked |
|---|---|
| Wage and salary workers | 31.9% |
| Management, business, and financial operations | 57.0% |
| Professional and related | 44.5% |
| Sales and related | 34.7% |
| Office and administrative support | 28.6% |
| Service | 11.5% |
ATUS Table 7 reports main-job work at home. Occupation rows are employed people aged 15 and over in the stated main-job occupation groups; the earnings rows below use a more specific population. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 7
Table 7 also reports usual weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers who held one job. Within that specific population, the average-day main-job work-at-home rate was 13.3% for those earning $0–$840 in usual weekly earnings, 21.5% for $841–$1,320, 39.9% for $1,321–$2,020, and 53.0% for $2,021 or more. These categories describe earnings ranges, not hourly pay, and the table’s scope does not extend to all workers or multiple jobholders. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 7
The earnings series should be read as a set of within-group proportions. Each percentage answers what share of those who worked in that earnings range worked at home on the main job on an average day. It does not give the number of people in each group, or the share of all home-working people who fell into that earnings range. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 7
Work from home participation statistics: how often employed people worked at home in 2025
ATUS Table 6 provides a broader average-day measure. In 2025, 34.5% of employed people aged 15 and over worked at home at some point on an average day, among those who worked that day. This includes work at main and other jobs and does not require home to be the person’s usual workplace. It measures whether work at home occurred on the day, rather than the portion of working hours spent at home. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 6
By work schedule, 34.9% of full-time workers who worked on an average day worked at home at some point; the comparable proportion for part-time workers was 32.1%. By sex, the reported rate was 31.3% among employed men and 38.2% among employed women. These are all-job, average-day work-at-home measures, distinct from the paid-telework rates in the CPS section above. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 6
Education patterns in Table 6 again refer to employed people aged 25 and over. On an average day in 2025, 9.1% of those with less than a high school diploma worked at home at some point, among those who worked that day. The rate was 19.0% for high school graduates with no college, 29.7% for people with some college or an associate degree, and 51.4% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 6
| Group | Worked at home at some point on an average day in 2025, among those who worked |
|---|---|
| Employed people, age 15 and over | 34.5% |
| Full-time workers | 34.9% |
| Part-time workers | 32.1% |
| Men | 31.3% |
| Women | 38.2% |
| Less than a high school diploma, age 25 and over | 9.1% |
| High school graduates, no college, age 25 and over | 19.0% |
| Some college or associate degree, age 25 and over | 29.7% |
| Bachelor’s degree and higher, age 25 and over | 51.4% |
Table 6 includes any work at home across jobs and does not require home to be the usual workplace. Education rows cover people aged 25 and over. Source: BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results,” Table 6
The two BLS series provide complementary views, but they are not a single continuous trend. The CPS figures above cover people aged 16 and over who were at work in Q1 2024 and measure telework or work at home for pay during the reference week. ATUS Table 6 covers employed people aged 15 and over who worked on an average day in 2025 and measures any work performed at home; Table 7 narrows the focus to the main job. Differences in period, age scope, denominator, and definition mean the percentages should be interpreted within their own survey measures. Neither source measures laptop ownership or device use. Sources: BLS, “Telework trends”; BLS, “American Time Use Survey News Release—2025 Results”