DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado cities have some of the nation’s highest shares of remote workers.
Following the COVID pandemic, the number of workers reporting that they clock in at home has spiked. Researchers have documented an exodus of many of these workers away from cities and coastal hubs into more sparsely-occupied areas, playing a partial role in housing price inflation through 2021 and 2022.
Colorado’s recent development as a destination of choice for much of this migration makes sense. Among over 400 cities nationwide, four of Colorado’s cities rank among the cities with the highest concentrations of remote workers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2021.
These estimates are likely high, considering COVID-related lockdowns and public movement restrictions were still rolling in place throughout 2021. They do shed light, however, on the cities with the highest shares of those jobs.
Boulder ranks 18th in the nation with 42.6% of its workers over 16 reporting that they work from home in 2021.
Highlands Ranch ranked among the top 50 as well, with 37.2% of workers clocking in from home. In Broomfield, 35% of workers work from home.
Colorado’s largest city, Denver, ranks 48th with 32.3% of workers working from home.
As a large city, Denver ranks comparatively high to others. Among the nation’s 20 largest cities, it ranks the fifth-highest for its share of remote workers.