Business

Report: Boston still behind in return to office, especially on Fridays

Only 10.8% of Boston office visits occurred on Fridays so far this year.

The Boston skyline is seen from Cambridge, Massachusetts October 28, 2025. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

Boston workers continue to be slow to return to the office, especially on Fridays, according to a new report by Placer.ai.

As first reported by the Boston Business Journal, Boston had the second lowest in-office rates on Fridays in October, with only Chicago ranking lower.

Only 10.8% of weekday office visits took place on Fridays in Boston, compared to 12.4% nationally between January and October this year.

Nationally, regarding the rest of the week, 17.8% of office visits took place on Mondays, 24.3% on Tuesdays, 23.7% on Wednesdays, and 21.8% on Thursdays.

Overall, Miami and New York have the highest post-pandemic return-to-office rate, while San Francisco had the highest year-over-year rebound as compared to 2024 (although it remained second-to-last in terms of overall rebound, behind Chicago).

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Boston had the third lowest office recovery overall at -40.5% compared to October 2019, ahead of only San Francisco and Chicago. The Hub also had the third lowest year-over-year growth from 2024 to 2025 at 2.2%, tied with Houston and behind Denver and Washington, D.C.

Despite Boston’s comparatively low return rate, the overall rate is still on the rise likely due to companies, such as Dell, JP Morgan, AT&T, Amazon, and government entities, returning to the office.

The rate may continue to rise as the investment firm KKR expands to a downtown office space, Hasbro headquarters relocates to Boston, and Lego headquarters moves to Back Bay.

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