US: The growth of coworking spaces is accelerating as businesses adapt to new work models, according to a recent report by real estate research platform CommercialEdge.
As traditional office spaces face challenges, coworking now accounts for 2.0 per cent of the total office market, marking a 30 basis point increase year-over-year.
In February 2025, the number of coworking locations in the US grew by 25 per cent, reaching 7,814. The total space leased expanded by 15.2 per cent, totalling 140.1 million square feet.
This surge reflects broader changes in how businesses approach office use. Flexible workspace is proving particularly appealing to companies navigating post-pandemic uncertainty, combining the benefits of in-office collaboration with the adaptability of remote models.
Peter Kolaczynski, director of Commercial Edge said: “Flexibility reigns supreme. Corporate occupiers are finding coworking to be an increased portion of their real estate footprint, with flexibility in size, terms, and pricing to be key benefits. Growth of total operators and in square footage support this.”
However, the average size of co-working spaces has shrunk, dropping by 1,524 square feet to 17,932 square feet per location.
Regionally, the South of the US leads with 50.3 million square feet of coworking space and nearly 3,000 locations. The Midwest showed the strongest year-on-year growth, up 27.7 per cent in location count and 21.1 per cent in space. though it still accounts for just 15 per cent of the national coworking footprint.
At the same time, vacancy rates remain high in traditional office buildings. The national vacancy rate stood at 19.7 per cent in February, 180 basis points higher than a year ago. Cities like Boston saw the sharpest increases, with a 4.9 percentage point jump in vacancy year-over-year.
In contrast, Manhattan remained a top investment destination, recording $1.8 billion in office sales in early 2025, while Chicago achieved a third of its 2024 total in just two months, though many assets were sold at discounted prices.
In conclusion, the report found that, with hybrid work now the norm in many sectors, businesses are increasingly turning to flexible solutions that reduce overhead while supporting employee collaboration and mobility.
