More and More Americans Working From Home

In a pattern evident in communities all over the country, U.S. Census data shows more Americans are working from home. Researchers from the Brookings Institution are hoping that planners have noticed the trend.

1 minute read

September 29, 2015, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


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Mike McCune (mccune 934) / Flickr

"Over time, though, the American commute is shifting in increasingly novel ways, especially at the metropolitan level. Going back to 2000, many workers are opting out of traditional modes of transport like cars and switching to other modes," report Joseph Kane and Adie Tomer.

The most compelling evidence of the evolution of commute patterns, according to Kane and Tomer, is the "continued surge in remote working."

"From 2000 to 2014, nearly 2.4 million more people—or 13 percent of all new commuters—are working at home to bring their national total to 6.5 million. Moreover, the share of workers at home has risen from 3.2 percent to 4.5 percent, surpassing the rate of growth in all other commuting categories and building off a series of emerging work patterns in the public and private sector."

The post goes on to provide examples of some of the other ways commuting has changed in recent years, before concluding with an appeal to transportation and land use planners to take the shift into account.

Monday, September 28, 2015 in Brookings Institution

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