S.F. has more workers returning to the office than Los Angeles
San Francisco office visits were down 34.2% in July compared to 2019, narrowly ahead of Los Angeles' 34.6% and Denver's 40% declines in the same period, data released Monday showed. San Francisco is still near the bottom for return to work — it's far below nationwide office visits, which were 21.8% below 2019 levels in July.
'It's obviously a far cry from pre-pandemic,' said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, of San Francisco.
But the artificial intelligence boom is bolstering the return to office, he said, and driving up apartment and office rents. BART reported higher downtown ridership in June as well.
As a result, San Francisco saw the biggest percentage jump in office visits in the past 12 months, 21.6%, among the cities that Placer.ai tracks.
In contrast, Los Angeles has seen a weaker return to office in part because of lingering disruption from Hollywood actor and writer strikes in 2024 and 2023, Hottovy said. Denver's low ranking reflects a heavily remote working culture, especially for tech, according to Placer.ai.
The Placer.ai data uses anonymized cell phone location data to measure foot traffic to offices, with 'predefined criteria specific to employee behavior.' Higher return to office rates measure not only workers coming back, but also population and job growth compared to 2019.
San Francisco saw a big population drop of 6.3% during the first year of the pandemic, according to census data, but has been growing again modestly. Downtown events like First Thursday and Unstaged street parties are also helping draw office workers and visitors back, businesses and organizers have said.
The leaders for return to office are New York, which was 1.3% above its 2019 level, and Miami, which was only 0.1% below its 2019 level in July. It was the first time New York beat its 2019 numbers on Placer.ai's data, which Hottovy attributed in part to large employers like banks requiring five days in the office again.
'I don't think we're ever going to quite get to 100% nationally,' Hottovy said. Despite some companies like Amazon and JPMorgan bringing workers back full-time, many companies have embraced at least a couple days at home each week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Business Insider
RTO made its biggest post-pandemic comeback in July
The office commute is in its comeback era. Data from the location intelligence and foot traffic data software firm, found that July set a post-pandemic record high for office attendance. While in-office work hasn't yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, most Fortune 100 employees are now subject to full-time in-office work mandates, the report found. The Nationwide Office Building Index analyzes foot traffic data from about 1,000 commercial office buildings across the country. The latest report found that office visits in July of this year were up 10.7% compared to July 2024. Office visits in July 2025 were down 21.8% compared to July 2019, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic forced office shutdowns around the world the following March. Two cities, however, are bouncing back. Employees in New York City, driven largely by workers in the financial sector who are subject to strict RTO requirements, saw 1.3% office foot traffic growth in July 2025 compared to 2019 — a first since began tracking these trends. found Miami came close behind, posting just a 0.1% lag compared to its 2019 foot traffic. Atlanta and Dallas also saw more in-office foot traffic than the national average compared to 2019 levels. San Francisco saw the greatest gains year-over-year, with 21.6% visit growth compared to 2024. So if you haven't been called back to the office yet, you're increasingly in the minority. Major employers from Amazon to Zoom have either implemented or ratcheted up their return-to-office requirements this year. The losers in the RTO push appear to be working moms with young kids. The Washington Post reported this week that the trend is causing mothers in particular to leave the labor force in droves, erasing their pandemic-era gains in the workplace. The office may never again be what it was before 2020 — but for millions of workers, it's once again where the workday begins.
Business Insider
13 hours ago
- Business Insider
'San Francisco…Facing the Worst of It' Starbucks Stock (NASDAQ:SBUX) Notches Up as San Francisco Oddly Targeted in Closures
Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Bart gets an earring, and the mall in which he gets it ultimately becomes nothing but Starbucks locations? That is a path coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX) seems eager to change, as it has been closing a lot of stores of late. We just heard yesterday about plans to stop building a community store, and several other stores have followed suit. A recent report suggests that one place hit unusually hard by Starbucks closures is San Francisco. The news did not really shock investors, though, as they gave shares a fractional boost in Wednesday afternoon's trading. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Reports describe how, in San Francisco, the Starbucks at 295 California Street shut down. This location had been in place for around two decades, reports noted, and was considered a 'fixture' of the San Francisco Financial District. But given that San Francisco has seen a lot of office space go empty of late, that may have sent the demand for carry-out coffee into open decline as well. Though another report suggests that the news may not be so dire. Starbucks itself noted that the California Street closure '…coincided with the natural end of the lease.' Further, Starbucks employees at that location were offered transfers to other stores in the area, so at least there were no layoffs as the result of that location's closure. Yet oddly enough, reports note that there have been four Starbucks locations in San Francisco that were closed just in 2025. Stretch the time scale back to November 2024, and the number rises to six. The Starbucks Job Whether you got the idea from the 2004 movie The Ladykillers, from the 1969 episode of Gomer Pyle, USMC 'Dynamite Diner,' or from somewhere else altogether, you understand the idea of using a nearby location as cover to tunnel into a second location to rob it. Apparently, someone in Kingston, Washington thought this was an excellent idea to put into practice in real life…but targeted a Starbucks location to do it. Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies discovered a 'huge hole burrowed through the wall of the Starbucks,' which originated from a vacant store next to the Starbucks location. What exactly the suspected thieves got from the robbery is unclear, but reports noted they '…went through cash drawers, cut computer cables, went through cabinets, and damaged a safe.' Is Starbucks Stock a Good Buy? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SBUX stock based on 14 Buys, nine Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 0.56% loss in its share price over the past year, the average SBUX price target of $100.61 per share implies 6.79% upside potential.
CBS News
18 hours ago
- CBS News
BART fare gates will soon accept credit and debit cards. Here's what to know
People taking BART will soon be able to use their credit or debit cards at the fare gates, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The tap-to-pay feature launches the week of Aug. 18, according to the Clipper Executive Board. Valid cards include Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Payment options also include Apple Pay or Google Pay with a phone or watch. With the rollout of the new feature, there are some possible issues people with Clipper cards could face, such as "card clash." Jason Weinstein, the director of Clipper at MTC, explained during a July 28 meeting that card clash happens when a Clipper reader detects more than one card. How to avoid card clash depends on whether people use a physical Clipper card or a digital wallet. People with a plastic Clipper card should remove it from their wallet or purse to avoid the fare gate reader from detecting other cards. For those using an Android phone, the reader will charge the Clipper card first, Weinstein said. Apple's iPhone users can adjust the "express transit card" option in the wallet app to select which card is used. If the express transit card option is on for Clipper, the BART's fare gate reader will choose Clipper even if you have open payments on, Weinstein said. To use a credit or debit card instead, iPhone users can turn off the express transit card option for Clipper. During the meeting, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District general manager Denis Mulligan voiced possible issues over tap-to-pay only being allowed on BART. Mulligan said BART passengers who transfer to a bus or other systems will still need to have a Clipper card, and credit card users wouldn't get their normal discount if they switch to Clipper for the transfer. The new payment feature is designed for BART riders connecting from an airport or for infrequent riders. Weinstein said another possible advantage would be cutting down on how many plastic cards are needed. There are plans for the credit card payment feature to be rolled out to other Bay Area public transit systems.
