Key Takeaways
- A 75-square-foot home office area occupies between 7.6% and 11% of the average apartment’s area across the 20 largest cities in the U.S.
- Renters in cities such as New York, Boston and several West Coast markets pay between $260 and $540 in rent per month for their home office area.
- Switching to a smaller apartment with no home office and relying on coworking and self storage can result in potential savings in the hundreds of dollars for those looking to separate work from their life at home.
- Seattle has the smallest average apartment size among major U.S. cities at 683 square feet, with any home workspace size taking up an outsized percentage of that area.
- Columbus has the smallest studios among the nation’s 20 largest cities, with even a small desk taking up a significant amount of space.
The home office — or, at the minimum, a dedicated work area at home — is high on the priority list of most remote workers. While a simple desk is a big upgrade from working on a sofa, it rarely stops there. Extra equipment like screens, printers or cabinets and the necessity for privacy and quiet often mean that the home office can sprawl into taking over a larger part of our homes.
In such cases, the home office is not free, taking up a significant amount of square footage you could otherwise use, and that square footage costs rent. Renters in the largest U.S. cities can lose more than 10% of their apartment’s square footage in the case of a 75-square-foot work area at home, and that share climbs higher for anyone with a full dedicated work room.
Home Offices Take Up 10%+ of Apartment Area in Several U.S. Cities
Different U.S. rental markets offer various degrees of home office viability based on average apartment size. Among the 20 largest cities in the U.S. by population, coastal hubs with small average apartment sizes pose the largest issues in home office planning.
A dedicated 75-square-foot office area takes up 11% of the average apartment in Seattle, Wash., meaning that home workers lose a sizable part of their apartment if they rely on a home workspace. A similarly sized office takes up 10.3% of the average apartment in New York City and San Francisco. Incidentally, these gateway cities are also the nation’s most rent-pressured, meaning that paying for an apartment large enough to comfortably fit a home office will also cost more per square foot.
How Much of Your Apartment Does a 75-Square-Foot Home Office Take Up?
| City | All Apartments | Studio | 1-Bedroom | 2-Bedroom | 3-Bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 10.3% | 15.4% | 10.8% | 7.7% | 6.1% |
| Los Angeles, CA | 9.5% | 14.5% | 10.4% | 7.1% | 5.4% |
| Chicago, IL | 10.1% | 16.2% | 10.6% | 7.1% | 5.5% |
| Houston, TX | 8.5% | 15.1% | 10.3% | 7.1% | 5.4% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 9.1% | 17.8% | 11.0% | 7.6% | 5.7% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 9.6% | 16.5% | 10.7% | 7.6% | 5.5% |
| San Antonio, TX | 8.5% | 15.5% | 10.8% | 7.3% | 5.4% |
| San Diego, CA | 8.6% | 15.8% | 10.6% | 7.2% | 5.7% |
| Dallas, TX | 8.8% | 14.1% | 10.5% | 7.0% | 5.6% |
| Fort Worth, TX | 8.4% | 14.9% | 10.5% | 7.1% | 5.6% |
| Jacksonville, FL | 7.6% | 17.7% | 10.0% | 6.8% | 5.4% |
| San Jose, CA | 8.5% | 16.0% | 10.2% | 7.2% | 5.6% |
| Austin, TX | 8.7% | 16.2% | 10.5% | 7.0% | 5.5% |
| Charlotte, NC | 7.9% | 14.2% | 10.1% | 6.9% | 5.2% |
| Columbus, OH | 8.6% | 18.8% | 11.1% | 7.5% | 5.8% |
| Indianapolis, IN | 8.5% | 16.2% | 10.7% | 7.6% | 5.8% |
| San Francisco, CA | 10.3% | 17.0% | 11.0% | 7.4% | 5.8% |
| Seattle, WA | 11.0% | 18.2% | 11.2% | 7.5% | 6.0% |
| Denver, CO | 8.9% | 14.9% | 10.4% | 7.1% | 5.4% |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 8.8% | 16.0% | 10.6% | 7.5% | 5.9% |
At the opposite end of the spectrum from Seattle, Jacksonville has the most generous apartment size among the 20 largest U.S. cities. A 75-square-foot home office here represents a more manageable 7.6% of the average apartment’s area. The South’s larger homes generally lend themselves well to home offices, as other cities with high home office viability included Charlotte, N.C.; Fort Worth, Texas; and Houston, Texas.
Switching the calculation to a 100-square-foot home office — representing a comfortably-sized, but not overly spacious study — home workspaces can take up between 10% and 15% of the average apartment’s surface in all major U.S. cities, significantly reducing available space for other purposes.
Apartment area is also a major contributor to home office viability. Seattle has the smallest average apartment size overall out of the nation’s 20 largest cities by population. However, studios in Columbus are smaller than those in Seattle on average — 400 square feet compared to 412 for Seattle — posing additional difficulties for remote workers renting a studio here.
Similar differences are evident in terms of pricing. New York rental apartments average $7.3 per square foot. A home office area of 75 square feet is equivalent to more than $540 in rent per month. Monthly rent attributable to a 75-square-foot home office is around $410 in San Francisco, $370 in Boston, $280 in San Jose, Calif., and $260 in Los Angeles. These numbers climb even higher when accounting for a full-room home office of 100 square feet or more.
Where It Makes Sense to Ditch the Home Office
Scores of workers are ditching their pandemic-era home office setups due to feeling isolated or wanting to separate their work from their personal life. However, there may also be significant cost savings to be found if you’re willing to let go of the home office, downsize your apartment and rely on coworking and storage space to compensate.
For example, in Los Angeles, switching from a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom apartment would decrease your rent by an average of $1,210 per month. A coworking membership plus the rent for a 5’x5′ storage unit in the same city cost an average of $350 per month. Even taking into account transportation costs between the locations, potential savings are significant — in addition to the mental health benefit of having a place to work that’s separate from your home and people to bounce ideas off of.
With a few exceptions, the most notable savings are achievable by switching from a three-bedroom to a two-bedroom apartment. In this situation, cities including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle all offer potential savings of close to $1,000. Conversely, switching from a one-bedroom to a studio unit costs more when adding coworking memberships and self storage in several large Texas cities as well as other entries such as Oklahoma City or Charlotte, N.C.
Potential Savings/Extra Costs When Switching to a Smaller Apartment After Subtracting Coworking & Self Storage Fees
| City | 1-Bedroom to Studio | 2-Bedroom to 1-Bedroom | 3-Bedroom to 2-Bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | +$745 | +$638 | +$1,344 |
| Los Angeles, CA | +$318 | +$555 | +$859 |
| Chicago, IL | +$440 | +$631 | +$171 |
| Houston, TX | -$66 | +$35 | +$102 |
| Phoenix, AZ | +$44 | +$26 | +$254 |
| Philadelphia, PA | +$85 | +$192 | +$881 |
| San Antonio, TX | +$13 | +$82 | +$221 |
| San Diego, CA | +$244 | +$339 | +$400 |
| Dallas, TX | -$47 | +$196 | +$149 |
| Fort Worth, TX | -$14 | +$104 | +$219 |
| Jacksonville, FL | +$64 | +$11 | +$79 |
| San Jose, CA | +$317 | +$300 | +$394 |
| Austin, TX | -$131 | +$109 | +$320 |
| Charlotte, NC | -$163 | +$25 | +$77 |
| Columbus, OH | +$12 | -$14 | +$28 |
| Indianapolis, IN | -$69 | -$11 | +$21 |
| San Francisco, CA | +$721 | +$792 | +$900 |
| Seattle, WA | +$435 | +$538 | +$1,023 |
| Denver, CO | +$55 | +$233 | +$414 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | -$131 | -$50 | +$47 |
Methodology
Our analysis is based on residential data provided by Yardi Matrix. Data was extracted and validated as of July 2026.
Data points analyzed included rent per square foot for rentals listed as studio apartments, one-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom apartments for the 20 largest U.S. cities by population. Data for apartments with more than three bedrooms was not presented separately due to low sample sizes, but was included where averages across all apartment types were discussed.
For the purposes of this analysis, we defined four standard home workspace sizes:
- Small desk: 25 square feet
- Large desk: 50 square feet
- Dedicated area (desk and equipment): 75 square feet
- Dedicated room: 100 square feet
We also included self storage costs and coworking costs to highlight pricing differences when downsizing apartments and relying on alternate solutions for workplaces and storage. Self-storage pricing data refers to per-month costs for a 5’x5′ storage unit in each city, provided by Yardi Matrix. Coworking membership pricing levels are based on open workspace and dedicated desk memberships based on listing data provided by CommercialCafe. Coworking pricing data is only available at a metro level. The average coworking cost within a metro was applied to all of its component cities.
