Remote workers make up 23% of Madison workforce

The Madison area is home to the third-most remote workers of any metropolitan area in the Midwest, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, The Capital Times reported.

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the report found that 22.6% of Madison-area employees worked primarily from home in 2021, the highest rate of any Wisconsin county and good for a ranking of 22nd among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.

However, Wisconsin as a state is below the national average for remote workers, with 14.8% of workers primarily working from home in 2021 compared to 17.9% for the nation.

More Wisconsin women worked remotely (16.6%) compared to men (13.2%).

The report also found that the level of remote work has remained largely unchanged in Wisconsin since the middle of 2021. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, 24.7% of Wisconsinites worked from home in July and August 2021 compared to 23.9% as of January 2023.