【Zillow】More Than 8 Million U.S. Workers Live in Cities, But Don't Work There

The rapid movement towards remote work arrangements in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic raises some interesting questions on the future of workers in urban centers. If workers place less value on living near a downtown job center they no longer need to go to (at least, not as often), will more of them decamp for the suburbs — potentially hollowing out urban centers that had been enjoying a renaissance over the past decade?

It’s a valid question, and it’s likely too soon to have a definitive answer. But that question also ignores the millions of U.S. workers already living in urban areas not because of their proximity to work, but in spite of it. As of 2017*, 40% of U.S. residents living in urban areas commuted to non-urban ZIP codes for work — or almost 8.2 million workers nationwide — according to an analysis of data from the federal Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) dataset.

In fact, a majority of urban residents work outside the city in 20 of the country’s 35 largest metro areas, including three (Riverside, Tampa and Orlando) where more than 70% of urban residents work in the suburbs or rural areas. In general, areas with more “urban resident/elsewhere worker” citizens tend to be more sprawling and/or more affordable metros compared to the more stereotypically dense and/or expensive coastal areas like New York and San Francisco.

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