While the results of Deskmag’s Global Coworking Survey are coming soon, and the GWA Coworking Survey is closing next week, we could not pass up the opportunity to share some incredible stats compiled by Ergonomic Trends recently. The link to the full compilation article is at the bottom of this page.
With the GCUC conference last month providing tons of fascinating insight into the coworking industry, the two aforementioned surveys, and this article from Ergonomic Trends, it is the best time for coworking information and research in recent memory.
Coworking by Region
Even though the growth of coworking in the US has reached new heights, the Americas still remain the third largest region in terms of total number of locations. Asia Pacific is still the runaway leader, with 11,592 spaces. Europe and the Middle East follow with 6,850. The Americas come in third with 6,293.
According to the article, in 2017, there were 26,000 spaces globally, and by year 2022 that number is forecast to double to nearly 50,000. China and India will continue to rise in terms of largest markets in the coming years.
And, on a very positive note, per a study by Cushman & Wakefield, its reported that 70% of spaces globally with over 200 members are profitable. Looking at the US market specifically, 52% of spaces reported profitability, with another 31% breaking even. These numbers are a bit higher than the 44% and 28%, respectively, shared at GCUC by Deskmag.
Coworking in the US
As of 2017, there were 542,000 coworking space members in the US. By 2022, that number is projected to rise to nearly 1.1M. As we revealed in our Yardi Matrix report in 2018, Manhattan leads the nation in number of square feet and number of locations by a wide margin. Los Angeles office space is second in both categories.
In a study of 20 major markets, Washington D.C was the most expensive city for a monthly membership, at an average of $843/month. New York City is second, and the Silicon Valley third. Among those major markets, Houston recorded the cheapest monthly rate, at $220/month.
WeWork and Regus are the dominant players in the American coworking industry. They combine for 60% of the spaces in the 20 major markets studied.
Who’s Using Coworking Spaces
About 3.1 million people work out of coworking spaces in 2019. That number has nearly doubled in the last three years. And the projections have it rising all the way to 5.1M by 2022.
We know more corporations are diving into the coworking world, which is a driving force behind that number. The trend of expanding desk space within an existing location is continuing to grow, more so than expanding to open multiple locations.
The largest age group of members is 25-29. Just behind that group is the 30-34 range. Overall, 41% of members worldwide are freelancers, 36% are corporate employees, and 13% fall into the ‘digital nomads’ category. Women now make up 40% of the coworking population.
The full publication by Ergonomic Trends features more research and data. For example, how coworking makes people happier, how members make better connections, the most important amenities to offer, and challenges facing operators. Click here to read the piece in its entirety.
To learn more about how the new Yardi Kube platform is the software of choice to power the most successful coworking spaces, please click the link below.