Office Visits Hold Firm in November
Dive into the latest attendance buzz across the nation’s top markets.
The rate of employees working in the office, down everywhere since the pandemic, was robust in November, with average visits to the office per working day for that month at the highest level since 2019, according to the latest Placer.ai report.
The average number of visits to the office per working day in the 11 major U.S. cities that Placer.ai tracks was 32.9 percent less in November 2025 than in November 2019, reaching a five-year record. In November 2024, visits per working day were 41 percent less, and in November 2020 they were 81.9 percent less.
Miami widened its lead over New York City as the market saw the highest level of office visits, the report found. In Miami, office visits were only 15.9 percent lower than in 2019, while in New York City, the rate was 23.2 percent lower.
The report posited that for November at least, seasonal weather and longer transit-heavy commutes increasingly dampened office attendance in the Northeast.
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Dallas came in third (26.2 percent lower than in 2019) and Atlanta was fourth, at 33 percent lower. Miami, New York City, Dallas and Atlanta were the markets above the 36.3 percent monthly national average, while Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago were below the national average, in that order.
Tech hubs see office visit surge
The company chalks the return-to-office momentum up in significant part to the tech industry.
Tech hubs, including San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Boston, turned in strong gains in office visits in November 2025 compared with the same month a year earlier, the report found. San Francisco’s recovery has been a story of a comeback, with office visits in November 2025 at 47 percent of those in the same month in 2019.
That is still the second-lowest rate of visitation among the 11 cities, after Chicago at 48.3 percent compared with 2019, but San Francisco’s rate has increased by 13.7 percentage points since a year ago, by far the most robust increase nationwide.
The AI-fueled boom in San Francisco is propelling the rate of return-to-office in that market, Caroline Wu, director of Research at Placer.ai, told Commercial Property Executive.
“While tech hubs were among the first to jump on the remote work bandwagon during the pandemic, they’re now leading the charge for in-person collaboration,” Wu said. “That allows for speedier ideation and cross-pollination, as well as fostering camaraderie and mentorship.”
Another tech hub pushing for an in-office revival is Denver, Wu said.
“Colorado has seen office visits increase, at a rate of 3.7 percent year-over-year in November 2025,” she noted. “That is driven by its tech strengths in aerospace and cybersecurity, coupled with a burgeoning startup culture.
Other places, not generally thought of as tech hubs but which have strong tech sectors, are on the return-to-office bandwagon as well. Such as Chicago, Wu said.
“Chicago, with office visits up 3.6 percent compared with last year, is historically a financial hub and continues to lead in the fintech space,” Wu added.
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