Return-to-office mandates continue to drive a post-pandemic office recovery, with nationwide office visits up 8.3% year-over-year in June, according to Placer.ai’s June 2025 office index.
The report noted stricter in-person work requirements within local government departments and companies across industries, including AT&T, Amazon and Starbucks, are bolstering office traffic. Some organizations have returned to a full five-day, in-office work week, said Placer.ai.
The uptick in June followed slightly lower office visits in May and represents continued momentum toward pre-COVID norms. While office visits remained 27.4% below June 2019 office visits, that is a significant improvement from June 2024, when visits were 32.9% below pre-pandemic levels. Despite having only 20 working days this year, June ranked as the fourth busiest in-office month since the pandemic, behind only October and July 2024 and April 2025, each of which had 22 working days.
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"While part of this uptick can be attributed to June 2024 having one fewer working day, the data nevertheless points to meaningful RTO progress,” said the report.
Miami and New York are leading regional office recovery with visits nearing a full post-pandemic recovery at just 4.2% and 5.3% below pre-pandemic levels. Sunbelt cities, including Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, also outperformed the national average, reflecting robust return to workplace momentum in these regions, according to Placer.ai.
In fact, most cities the report studied saw notable year-over-year gains in June, partly due to the extra work day this year. Los Angeles was the only hub to experience a year-over-year gap. Placer.ai theorized that this downturn could be related to protests in the area that may have disrupted commuting routines for some employees.
Houston posted an impressive 17.2% year-over-year increase in office traffic and San Francisco maintained a strong growth streak, suggesting a steady recovery in its tech-heavy landscape, although it remains the furthest from its pre-pandemic attendance levels, said the report.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
