4 minBusiness
U.S. Office Workers Spend Nearly $7,000 a Year Just to Show Up
A new Resume.io study finds American office workers spend an average of $6,736 annually on commuting, food, and other costs of working in person, with more than half reporting that expenses have risen over the past year.
American office workers spend an average of $6,736 a year simply to show up at work, according to a new study from resume-building platform Resume.io, a figure that covers commuting, meals, parking, and childcare and that has climbed for a majority of employees over the past year.
Commuting alone accounts for more than 40% of the total, or $2,751 annually, including public transit fares, gasoline, and related expenses. Food and coffee purchased near the office add another $2,598 a year. More than half of workers, 53.2%, said their office-related costs have risen over the past 12 months, while only 5.9% reported a decline.
The study examined federal wage, commuting, fuel, and price data across the 36 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and surveyed 1,000 full-time office workers about their weekly spending on getting to work, parking, eating, and childcare. The results arrive more than six years after the pandemic reshaped remote work and as return-to-office policies remain a subject of intense debate between employers and employees.
Perhaps the most striking finding is that some of the nation’s most expensive cities are among the least costly places to be an office worker once local salaries are taken into account. New York, Boston, and San Francisco fall into that category, because higher wages offset the nominal cost of commuting and daily expenses.
Measured as a share of income, Orlando, Florida, carries the highest «commuting tax,» followed by Riverside, California; San Antonio, Texas; Tampa, Florida; and Nashville, Tennessee. In pure dollar terms, Austin, Texas, is the most expensive city for commuters at an average of $7,424 a year, reflecting the longest average commute in the country. Riverside ranks second at $7,403, followed by Orlando at $7,351, Sacramento at $7,351, and San Francisco at $7,294. Las Vegas is the cheapest major city for commuters, at $5,588 a year.
The cost is not only financial. Office workers spend an average of 184 hours a year commuting, equivalent to 23 full workdays, the study found. Getting ready for an office day takes an average of 43.4 minutes longer than preparing to work from home, adding another 137 hours a year, or roughly 17 workdays. Combined, the time lost to in-person work approaches 40 full working days annually.
Employers have continued to push for more face time even as the debate over remote work persists. According to CBRE, 89% of U.S. companies now expect employees to come in at least three days a week, up from 78% in 2025, though actual attendance often lags behind those expectations. Some firms have softened their policies in response to employee pushback. Barclays said it would delay enforcement of its new hybrid work policy until the start of 2027.
The findings add a concrete price tag to a debate that has often focused on productivity, culture, and flexibility. For workers weighing the value of a hybrid or fully in-office schedule, the study suggests that the decision carries a measurable annual cost that varies sharply by city and by how far an employee lives from the workplace.
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