6 cities where workers are returning to the office

The long shadow of the pandemic still looms over the workforce, with many still working from home. But office buildings and downtown parking garages are slowly filling up as people return to their cubicles.

The latest data from the Placer.ai Office Index suggests that nationwide office visits may be trending upwards once again. Although March 2025 office visit levels didn’t match the peaks of October and July 2024, visits last month were only 32.2% below March 2019 levels — an improvement over March 2024.

Significantly, among months with 21 or fewer working days, March 2025 ranked as the second-busiest in-office month since the pandemic, just slightly behind October 2023.

Overall, the Placer.ai Office Index points to a renewed upswing in return-to-office momentum, likely driven by increasingly strict mandates from governments and corporations. Though persistent post-pandemic office visit gaps point to the continued prevalence of hybrid work, March’s noticeable uptick suggests that offices may be poised to make further gains in the coming months.

Here are the six cities with the biggest year-over-year return-to-office increases between March 2024 and March 2025, according to Placer.ai.