Business

Boston lags behind other major cities in return to office, new study finds

While office attendance has reached new post-pandemic highs nationwide, Boston’s recovery remains slow.

A view of the Boston skyline. David L Ryan/Globe Staff

October 21, 2025

1 minute to read

While people are returning to the office nationwide at record levels, Boston is slow to follow, according to a new report.

According to data from Placer.ai, first reported by Boston Business Journal, September ranked as the third busiest in-office month since COVID, followed by June and July. Placer.ai uses an office building index that analyzes foot traffic data from around 1,300 top-tier office buildings across the country.

Boston saw a measly 9.7% year-over-year growth in office visits this September, compared to 13% nationally. San Francisco at 19% and Atlanta at 17.5% led the pack, with only Washington, D.C. and Miami placing lower than Boston.

Miami and New York City continue to lead the office recovery, with the two seeing a loss of 7.6% and 11.5%, respectively, compared to 2019 levels. Boston remains 35.6% behind pre-pandemic levels, far behind the national average of 26.3%.

As the pandemic continues to fade into recent memory, many Massachusetts companies are rethinking their remote and hybrid work policies, which may explain the uptick in return-to-office visits seen so far.

Dell, JPMorgan, Amazon, and AT&T have all announced return-to-office moves, and government entities are also experiencing a shift under the Trump administration.

There are positive signs for more office visits, with companies like KKR signing on to new office space downtown, Hasbro relocating its headquarters to the Seaport, and LEGO moving its headquarters to the Back Bay.