DALLAS — Returning to the office is slowing picking up in the Dallas metro area.
The occupancy rate in Dallas office buildings rose to 51.8% last week up about a percentage point from the week before. It’s the second-highest rate since the COVID-19 pandemic chased workers en masse out of their offices and into their homes.
Only Austin (62.4%) and Houston (56.3%) have higher occupancy rates in 10 of the top business cities tracked by Kastle Systems, which has measured weekday keycard access to buildings it secures since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The high-water mark for Dallas is 52.3% occupancy in December 2021, just before the omicron variant caused widespread concern. Dallas has consistently ranked at or near the top of Kastle’s barometer.
The peaks and valleys of in-office work have closely tracked the spread of the virus and its variants.
In Kastle’s 10 largest metros, which include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, last week’s average occupancy was 42.8% as some parts of the country observed spring break. San Jose trailed the ranking at 31.8%.
The latest data reflects the start of the tech industry’s return to the office. Google brought back employees part-time on April 4, and Apple began requiring workers to come to the office for a phased return on April 11.
More than 70% of the nation’s lawyers are back at the office, according to the Kastle. The firm tracks data from 2,600 buildings and 41,000 businesses it secures in 47 states.
