Remote work is up amongst people of all ethnicities and income levels, report shows

As you may have expected, the number of remote workers in the United States has increased since 2019. According to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, which pulled from American Community Survey estimates, the total number of home-based workers skyrocketed from 9 million in 2019 to 27.6 million in 2021 – a more than 200% increase. 

What you might not have realized: While white, Asian, and high-income workers are most likely to work from home, more people of every income group and ethnicity worked remotely in 2021 as compared to 2019, the report says.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, the number of home-based white workers is up 155% from 2019, climbing from 7.2 million to 18.4 million in 2021. Likewise, the number of Asian remote workers have also increased significantly from 0.5 million in 2019 to 2.6 million in 2021, a 320% increase. Black workers saw a 270% jump in remote workers, up to 2.6 million from 0.7 million in 2019, and 3.2 million Hispanic workers are now based at home, compared to 1.1 million in 2019, a 190% increase.

Despite the big jumps, people of certain ethnic groups are still underrepresented amongst home-based workers compared to the general population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For instance, though white and Asian workers are overrepresented in remote work, Black workers are underrepresented in home-based jobs. Hispanic workers are the most underrepresented group, comprising only 12% of remote workers despite being 18% of the general population.

Read more: Top priorities for workers: It’s not working from home

Similarly, lower-wage workers – who are more likely to be Black, and less likely to be white – are less likely to work from home, with just over 1 in 10 workers from the lowest 10% of wage-earners working remotely. In comparison, in the top 10% of wage-earners, a full 38% of workers are home-based, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.