Census Shows Steady Increase in Home-Based Workers
On October 4, 2012, the United States Census Bureau announced that 4.2 million more people worked at home in 2010 than in 2000. The results were published in the Home-Based Workers in the United States: 2010, a combined analysis that pulls collects results from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the American Community Survey.
The Survey of Income and Program Participation stated that people working from home at least one day a week grew from 9.5 million in 9.5 million to 13.4 million in 2010. The percentage of workers grew from 7.0 percent to 9.5 percent. The same study found the biggest migration to a home office happened between 2005 and 2010.
The same survey found that median household incomes were highest for employees working at a both a home office and onsite office—about $96,300. These results compared with the average household incomes for employees working strictly from home ($74,000) and workers only working onsite ($65,000).
The American Community Survey concluded that Boulder, Colorado contained the most workers that worked almost entirely from home—about 10.9 percent. Other areas with a high percentage of employees working at home include Medford, Oregon (8.4 percent); Santa Fe, New Mexico (8.3 percent); Kingston, New York (8.1 percent); and Santa Rosa/Petaluma, California (7.9 percent).
The same survey found that about half of all home-based employees were self-employed. Government employees working from home increased by 133 percent, and home-based employees working for private companies increased by 67 percent since 2000.
The main reason for the increase in home-based employees since 2000 is the growth of technology and availability of internet. Peter Mateyka, an analyst for the Census Bureau, stated, “As communication and information technologies advance, we are seeing that workers are increasingly able to perform work at home.”
Home offices save commuting costs, utility costs for companies, and offer tax break for some employees as well. The number of home-based employees will surely increase.
Source: United States Census Bureau
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