Number of People Primarily Working From Home Tripled 2019 - 2021

Between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home throughout the U.S. tripled from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million people), according to new 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Connecticut in 2019, only 1 in 18 workers worked remotely from home (5.6%). With the emergence of COVID-19, as organizations adapted in order to continue business functions, nearly 1 in 5 workers in Connecticut reported working remotely in 2021 -19.5% of the workforce - exceeding the national percentage. That is a 248% increase between 2019 and 2021.

Across the country, nearly half (48.3%) of workers in the District of Columbia worked from home, the highest percentage of home-based workers among states and state equivalents in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. In addition to the District of Columbia, states with the highest percentage of home-based workers were Washington (24.2%), Maryland (24.0%), Colorado (23.7%) and Massachusetts (23.7%). Connecticut was not far behind, at 19.5%.

2021 marked the highest number and percentage of people working from home recorded – nationally and in Connecticut - since the ACS began in 2005. The data also showed an increase in the percentage of workers who live and worked within the state of Connecticut, from 92.5% in 2019 to 94.1% in 2021.

“While we know rates increased during the initial year of the pandemic, what is striking is that well into the pandemic rates of working from home have persisted, at levels three times as high as prior to the pandemic,” said Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director of the Connecticut Data Collaborative (CTData).

Overall in Connecticut, the percentage of workers who commuted to work - in a car, truck, or van - dropped from 86% in 2019 to only 74 in 2021%. The percentage taking public transportation was nearly reduced by half, from 4.5% to 2.5% in Connecticut. Nationally, public transportation commuting fell by half, from 5% of workers in 2019 to 2.5% in 2021, the lowest percentage of workers commuting by public transportation ever recorded by the ACS.

The data also indicates somewhat of a realignment in the Connecticut workforce, likely driven by COVID-19 and related restrictions. For example, the percentage of the state workforce in service industries dropped by 2.5% between 2019 and 2021, while the percentage in management, business, science and the arts increased by 2.1% and production, transportation and material moving increased by .8%.

The sample size in the ACS survey was 20,291 interviews in 2019; 19,518 interviews in 2021. Because of COVID-19 limitations in data collection, data was not published in 2020.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative is the state’s leading advocate for data literacy, public access to data, and data-informed decision-making. CTData is a public-private partnership that works with nonprofits, advocates, policymakers, community groups, and funders in using data to drive policy and improve programs and services, budgeting and decision making at the state, regional and local levels.

For the State of Connecticut, CTData is the lead organization in the U.S. Census Bureau’s State Data Center Program and is Connecticut’s official source for data related to the 2020 Census. CTData also works with nonprofit organizations to develop CTData Strategic Plans©, customized to individual organizations, operates the CTData Academy, and coordinates the Hartford Data Collaborative.

CTData empowers an ecosystem of data users by democratizing access to public data and building data literacy skills. CTData serves residents, nonprofits, policymakers, and funders in using data to drive policy, program, and service improvements. The organization strives to promote and engage data users in implementing equitable data practices across the state.

CTData regularly offers programs and webinars to increase data literacy in Connecticut, and to provide organizations and individuals with opportunities to expand data knowledge and usage in decision-making. During the coming weeks, the CTData Academy will be offering: Analyzing Qualitative Data on October 11, Equity in Data on October 18, Quantitative Data Analysis on November 3.

More than 200 data sets are now accessible to the public on the CTData website, including a wide array of subjects and policy categories. CTData offices are located on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford; more information and datasets are available on the website at www.ctdata.org.