Release date: December 2016

Number of 

buildings 

(thousand)

Total

floorspace

(million 

square feet)

Total

workers

(thousand)

Median 

square feet

per building 

(thousand)

Median 

square feet 

per 

worker1

Median 

operating 

hours per 

week

Median 

age of 

buildings 

(years)

All buildings 5,557 87,093 88,182 5.0 1,029 50 32

Principal building activity

(expanded)

Education 389 12,239 10,885 10.0 1,033 50 30

College or university 27 1,883 1,502 46.8 1,461 76 37

K-12 232 9,175 8,149 14.4 1,101 45 28

Elementary or middle school 189 6,118 5,286 12.1 1,033 45 27

High school 43 3,056 2,863 24.8 1,446 50 34

Preschool or daycare 68 431 749 4.4 500 58 24

Other classroom education 62 750 485 6.6 1,421 40 38

Food sales 177 1,252 1,172 3.2 1,033 114 30

Convenience store2 131 470 441 3.0 1,000 119 28

Grocery store or food market 45 763 719 7.2 1,250 100 35

Other food sales Q Q Q Q Q Q Q

Food service 380 1,819 3,431 3.6 567 80 33

Fast food 92 302 793 3.0 401 100 23

Restaurant or cafeteria 179 1,039 1,934 4.5 564 72 33

Bar, pub, or lounge 71 350 455 4.2 1,250 80 62

Other food service 37 128 248 2.6 475 75 37

Health care 157 4,155 7,613 5.0 556 48 31

Inpatient 10 2,374 4,281 101.0 573 168 36

Outpatient 147 1,781 3,333 5.0 556 48 31

Office (diagnostic) 60 510 1,008 4.2 500 40 31

Clinic or other outpatient 87 1,271 2,325 5.6 558 50 31

Lodging 158 5,826 3,066 14.7 2,541 168 37

Hotel 30 2,717 1,103 44.0 4,200 168 20

Motel or inn 61 602 254 6.0 2,333 168 38

Dormitory, fraternity, or sorority 25 805 137 16.0 7,750 168 49

Nursing home or assisted living 30 1,275 1,355 25.3 1,176 168 23

Other lodging 13 426 217 9.3 3,250 168 48

Mercantile 602 11,330 9,117 6.6 1,200 60 33

Retail (other than mall) 438 5,439 4,023 5.0 1,450 56 37

Retail store 336 4,504 3,146 5.0 1,539 55 40

Vehicle dealership 43 559 549 7.6 1,000 60 26

Other retail 59 376 328 3.8 1,098 56 38

Enclosed and strip malls 164 5,890 5,094 13.6 920 70 28

Strip shopping center 163 5,087 4,470 13.5 909 70 28

Enclosed mall 1 803 624 600.0 1,600 72 34

Table PBA2. Summary table: total and medians of floorspace, number of workers, hours of operation, and 

age of building by building activity subcategories, 2012
Number of 

buildings 

(thousand)

Total

floorspace

(million 

square feet)

Total

workers

(thousand)

Median 

square feet

per building 

(thousand)

Median 

square feet 

per 

worker1

Median 

operating 

hours per 

week

Median 

age of 

buildings 

(years)

All buildings 5,557 87,093 88,182 5.0 1,029 50 32

Table PBA2. Summary table: total and medians of floorspace, number of workers, hours of operation, and 

age of building by building activity subcategories, 2012

Office 1,012 15,952 33,756 5.0 600 47 33

Administrative or professional 558 8,937 19,634 5.0 561 45 38

Bank or other financial 91 920 1,891 4.1 510 49 30

Government 113 2,655 5,434 6.0 600 45 33

Medical (non-diagnostic) 50 302 429 3.4 622 45 21

Mixed-use 125 2,656 5,166 7.5 720 50 31

Other office 74 482 1,202 4.4 692 48 28

Public assembly 352 5,559 3,108 5.4 1,800 50 41

Library 24 761 477 11.6 1,300 53 34

Entertainment or culture 51 1,266 593 5.4 1,800 48 76

Recreation 100 1,898 702 11.2 2,694 69 29

Social or meeting 135 948 665 4.4 1,600 40 42

Other assembly 41 685 670 5.7 1,776 60 47

Public order and safety 84 1,440 1,854 6.1 750 168 23

Fire or police station 69 572 788 6.0 918 168 23

Courthouse or probation office 6 436 741 32.0 319 45 47

Other public order 9 432 326 15.0 750 168 12

Religious worship 412 4,557 1,940 6.0 2,700 20 41

Service 619 4,630 4,031 4.0 1,200 50 35

Post office or postal center 30 446 553 3.2 600 63 46

Repair shop 84 535 502 5.0 1,500 50 39

Vehicle service or repair 214 1,653 1,514 5.0 1,200 50 33

Vehicle storage or maintenance 176 1,311 904 3.8 1,200 45 27

Other service 114 685 558 3.0 1,200 50 47

Warehouse and storage 796 13,077 6,362 5.5 1,500 50 26

Nonrefrigerated 787 12,635 6,108 5.4 1,500 50 26

Warehouse 427 5,377 3,018 5.5 1,333 44 32

Distribution or shipping center 151 5,688 2,991 11.6 1,667 50 24

Self storage units 209 1,571 99 3.6 2,592 105 16

Refrigerated 8 443 254 18.0 1,250 66 27

Other 125 2,002 1,611 6.0 1,500 50 28

Laboratory 16 467 713 10.1 533 50 25

Other 109 1,535 898 4.8 1,500 48 28

Vacant 296 3,256 236 4.3 4,800 0 50

 1Buildings with zero workers are excluded from this column. 

 2

Includes Convenience stores and Convenience stores with gas stations.

 Q = Data withheld either because the Relative Standard Error (RSE) was greater than 50 percent or fewer than 20 buildings were sampled.

 Notes: ● Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. ● See Guide to the 2012 CBECS Detailed Tables or CBECS Terminology for definition 

of terms used in these tables and/or comparison of differences with prior CBECS tables. Both references can be accessed from 

http://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2012/

 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics, Form EIA-871A of the 2012 Commercial 

Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.