These Places Have The Most Expensive Office Spaces In The US

Going to the office can be expensive for workers. However, maintaining that office space can be pricey for employers, too.

On average, companies need about 150 square feet per worker. That isn’t even taking into account the space you need for a foosball table or other amenities many companies rely on to lure in talent.

We crunched the numbers to find the most expensive office spaces in the US– and exactly how much it costs your employer for you to make awkward small talk at the water cooler and pretend to be riveted in all those in person meetings.

The results? Office space for one employee costs on average $10,593 in the 50 most expensive markets– Or a staggering $211,867 annually for a staff of 20.

The Areas With The Most Expensive Office Spaces

Menlo Park – San Francisco, California
Plaza District -Manhattan, New York
SoHo – Manhattan, New York
Palo Alto – Bay Area, California
Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen – Manhattan, New York
Redwood City – San Francisco, California
Presidio Heights “- San Francisco California
SOMA – San Francisco, California
Los Gatos – Bay Area, California
South Financial District – San Francisco, California

Unsurprisingly, 7 of the 10 most expensive office space markets are in California. The other 3 are in New York. Keep reading to see the total average cost per employee.

Keep reading to see the other areas that make up the 50 most expensive spaces to rent office space–and how much the average cost is.

How We Determined This

For information on average cost per square footage, we turned to CommercialEdge.

CommericalEdge compiled their data on January 6, 2021. CommericalEdge evaluated 992 submarkets, all U.S. office submarkets with at least 10 listings of office space for rent during Q4 2020. They then averaged those rents together, dividing the total rent by available square footage.

CommericalEdge then ranked the 50 submarkets with highest rent per square foot.

From there, we used guidance from on the average amount of space needed per employee in a moderately space office (since 1 square foot might cover one floor tile in a cubicle…).

Taking this into consideration, we multiplied the cost per sq ft by 150– giving us the average yearly cost of office space in each market per employee.

Cubicles Cost Money

Many workers’ have been pleasantly surprised to find how much money and time they save by not commuting. However, should companies move to permanent remote- or even a hybrid approach to staffing- they also stand to see big savings.

Maintaining an office space in a hot location, along with other amenities top talent expects in many industries, is expensive. Add to worker savings and the fact that many workers now view remote work as a necessary perk, maybe it’s time to rethink the traditional office setup.

Or companies can continuing shelling out big bucks for a gleaming office space, instead. The choice is up to individual companies…and job seekers who are deciding if they want to spend 8 hours there everyday.

50 Most Expensive Places To Rent Office Space

Rank	Submarket	Market	State	Avg. Asking Rent Q4 2020	Unnamed: 5
1	Menlo Park	San Francisco	CA	$109.57	$16,435.50
2	Plaza District	Manhattan	NY	$104.29	$15,643.50
3	SoHo	Manhattan	NY	$94.86	$14,229.00
4	Palo Alto	Bay Area	CA	$92.90	$13,935.00
5	Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen	Manhattan	NY	$87.73	$13,159.50
6	Redwood City	San Francisco	CA	$85.98	$12,897.00
7	Presidio Heights	San Francisco	CA	$85.05	$12,757.50
8	SOMA	San Francisco	CA	$82.66	$12,399.00
9	Los Gatos	Bay Area	CA	$82.26	$12,339.00
10	South Financial District	San Francisco	CA	$81.17	$12,175.50
11	TriBeCa	Manhattan	NY	$80.14	$12,021.00
12	Greenwich Village	Manhattan	NY	$79.34	$11,901.00
13	Belmont/San Carlos	San Francisco	CA	$78.59	$11,788.50
14	Sunnyvale West	Bay Area	CA	$74.54	$11,181.00
15	Cambridge	Boston	MA	$73.73	$11,059.50
16	Cupertino	Bay Area	CA	$72.98	$10,947.00
17	World Trade Center	Manhattan	NY	$71.89	$10,783.50
18	Mountain View West	Bay Area	CA	$71.67	$10,750.50
19	Beverly Hills	Los Angeles	CA	$70.57	$10,585.50
20	San Jose CBD	Bay Area	CA	$70.56	$10,584.00
21	United Nations/Turtle Bay	Manhattan	NY	$70.41	$10,561.50
22	Santa Monica	Los Angeles	CA	$69.59	$10,438.50
23	Pacific Palisades/Malibu	Los Angeles	CA	$67.53	$10,129.50
24	North Financial District	San Francisco	CA	$66.86	$10,029.00
25	South San Francisco	San Francisco	CA	$66.77	$10,015.50
26	Financial District	Manhattan	NY	$65.91	$9,886.50
27	Chelsea	Manhattan	NY	$65.73	$9,859.50
28	Mountain View East	Bay Area	CA	$65.23	$9,784.50
29	Larkspur	San Francisco	CA	$65.20	$9,780.00
30	Foster City	San Francisco	CA	$64.72	$9,708.00
31	Boston – Downtown	Boston	MA	$64.66	$9,699.00
32	West Valley, San Jose	Bay Area	CA	$63.12	$9,468.00
33	Marina Del Rey	Los Angeles	CA	$62.89	$9,433.50
34	Downtown Oakland	Bay Area	CA	$62.64	$9,396.00
35	NoMa	Washington DC – Suburban Maryland	DC	$62.47	$9,370.50
36	Civic Center	San Francisco	CA	$62.30	$9,345.00
37	Hollywood	Los Angeles	CA	$61.36	$9,204.00
38	Murray Hill	Manhattan	NY	$61.32	$9,198.00
39	Navy Yard/Fort Greene/Clinton Hill	Brooklyn	NY	$61.10	$9,165.00
40	East	Austin	TX	$60.60	$9,090.00
41	Redwood Shores	San Francisco	CA	$60.10	$9,015.00
42	San Mateo	San Francisco	CA	$59.95	$8,992.50
43	East End	Washington DC – Suburban Maryland	DC	$59.30	$8,895.00
44	Century City	Los Angeles	CA	$59.16	$8,874.00
45	Gramercy Park	Manhattan	NY	$59.06	$8,859.00
46	Downtown	Austin	TX	$58.81	$8,821.50
47	Brooklyn Heights	Brooklyn	NY	$58.73	$8,809.50
48	West Van Ness	San Francisco	CA	$58.70	$8,805.00
49	Seventh Street Corridor	Washington DC – Suburban Maryland	DC	$58.42	$8,763.00
50	Brickell	Miami	FL	$58.00	$8,700.00

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Kathy Morris

Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.

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