Summary 09-02 / March 2009 • U.S. Department of Labor • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Work-at-home patterns by occupation

Working at home can provide people with 

numerous benefi ts—fl exibility in their schedules, fewer 

commutes, and opportunities 

to catch up on work. According to the American Time 

Use Survey (ATUS), about 

12 percent of full-time workers with a single job did some 

work at home on an average 

day in 2003–07. (See table.) 

However, the ability to work 

at home is greatly affected by 

the nature of one’s work because some types of work can 

be more easily performed at 

home than others. 

ATUS data provide insight 

into which workers were the 

most likely to do some work 

at home, and also yield information on the share of total 

weekly work hours people 

spent at their workplace, at 

home, and at other locations.1

Data presented here are averages for people age 15 years 

and over and for all 7 days of 

the week throughout 2003–07. 

Also, data refer only to workers with a single job who were 

employed full time; that is, they 

usually worked 35 or more 

hours per week. 

Self-employed workers were 

over three times more likely to 

do some work at home than 

wage and salary workers. About 

34 percent of the self-employed 

did at least some work at home 

on an average day, compared 

with 10 percent of wage and 

salary workers. Self-employed 

workers also spent a larger 

percent of their total weekly 

work hours at home than did 

wage and salary workers—

24 percent compared with 4 

percent. These two groups 

likely had different reasons 

for working at home; selfemployed workers primarily 

worked at home because they 

had home-based businesses, 

whereas wage and salary 

workers mainly did work at 

home to catch up on work.2

 On 

days that they worked at home, 

about 28 percent of the full-time 

self-employed worked more 

than 7 hours at home, compared 

with 8 percent of wage and 

salary workers. Conversely, 

on days that they worked at 

home, 52 percent of full-time 

wage and salary workers spent 

1 hour or less working at home, 

compared with 30 percent of 

self-employed workers. (See 

table and charts 1 and 2.) 

Self-employed workers in 

every occupational group also 

worked a larger percentage of 

their total weekly work hours 

at home than did wage and salary workers. The largest difference between self-employed 

and wage and salary workers 

occurred among arts, design, 

entertainment, sports, and media occupations. Self-employed 

workers in these occupations 

worked about 55 percent of 

their total weekly work hours 

at home, compared with only 

7 percent for wage and salary 

workers. Self-employed workers in personal care occupations, which include childcare 

workers, also worked a large 

share of their total weekly work 

hours at home (about 43 percent), compared with 9 percent 

for wage and salary workers in 

these occupations. 

Among wage and salary 

workers, those employed in 

education, training, and library 

occupations worked some of the 

largest percentages of their total 

weekly work hours at home 

(12 percent). Workers in this 

occupational group (83 percent 

of whom are teachers) have 

some fl exibility in where they 

choose to grade assignments 

and write lesson plans.3

 Wage 

and salary workers employed 

in computer and mathematical 

science occupations also worked 

among the largest percentage of 

their total weekly work hours at 

home (10 percent). 

The nature of some occupations makes working at home 

diffi cult because such jobs must 

be performed in specifi c locations, such as a restaurant or 

factory, or the jobs require frequent interaction with others. 

Among wage and salary workers, the occupational groups 

with some of the smallest percentages of total weekly work 

hours spent at home (about 1 

percent) include food preparation and serving occupations, 

production occupations, and 

building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations. Among self-employed 

workers, those employed in 

construction and extraction 

occupations and health care 

practitioner and technical occupations worked some of 

the smallest percentages of 

their total weekly work hours 

at home (about 8 percent). 

Workers in transportation occupations also worked among 

the smallest share of total 

weekly work hours at home, 

regardless of whether they 

were wage and salary workers 

(1 percent) or self-employed 

(11 percent). 

This Issues paper was prepared by Mary Dorinda Allard 

and Jill Lacey, economists in 

the Division of Labor Force 

Statistics, Offi ce of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics, Washington, DC 

20212. For additional information on time spent working at home or for a technical 

description of the ATUS from 

which the data used in this 

summary were derived, call 

(202) 691-6339, or send an

e-mail to atusinfo@bls.gov. 

Information in this summary will be made available 

to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1 (800) 877-8339. 

This report is in the public

domain and may be reproduced without permission. □

 1 Workers are considered to have 

done some work at home if they did 

at least 1 minute of work for their 

primary job at home.

 2 According to the May 2004 

Current Population Survey (CPS), 

for about 45 percent of wage and 

salary workers and 17 percent of 

self-employed workers, the primary 

reason for working at home was 

to “fi nish or catch up on work.” 

However, for about 46 percent of 

self-employed workers, the primary 

reason for working at home was 

“business is conducted from home,” 

compared with 8 percent of wage 

and salary workers with this reason. 

For more results from the May 2004 

CPS, go to http://www.bls.gov/cps/

lfcharacteristics.htm#workhome. 

 3 For more information on time use 

of teachers, see “Teachers’ work 

patterns: when, where, and how much 

do U.S. teachers work?” by Rachel 

Krantz-Kent at http://www.bls.gov/

opub/mlr/2008/03/art4full.pdf.
2

Percent of full-time workers with a single job who worked at home on an average day, and percent of total weekly work hours spent

at various locations, by class of worker and occupation, 2003–2007 

 Percent of total weekly hours worked

 at various locations

 Characteristic Percent who 

 worked at Other

 home on an Workplace Home location

 average day

Total, all classes of worker and occupations .................................... 12.2 91.2 5.9 2.8

 

Wage and salary workers, total ........................................................ 10.0 93.5 3.9 2.5

Management occupations ........................................................... 20.1 89.0 7.1 3.9

Business and fi nancial operations occupations .......................... 11.3 92.2 5.3 2.5

Computer and mathematical science occupations...................... 20.6 89.0 9.8 1.1

Architecture and engineering occupations .................................. 10.4 95.4 3.0 1.6

Life, physical, and social science occupations ............................ 13.6 91.8 5.0 3.2

Community and social service occupations ................................ 19.0 88.4 6.8 4.9

Legal occupations ...................................................................... 15.4 92.2 4.4 3.4

Education, training, and library occupations ............................... 28.1 84.8 11.8 3.4

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations ...... 19.0 89.8 7.0 3.3

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations...................... 10.7 94.0 3.2 2.8

Healthcare support occupations.................................................. 4.0 95.8 3.2 1.0

Protective services occupations .................................................. 6.0 96.9 1.7 1.5

Food preparation and serving occupations ................................. 3.0 95.9 .5 3.5

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations ... 2.1 98.4 .8 .8

Personal care occupations .......................................................... 10.2 88.0 8.8 3.2

Sales and related occupations .................................................... 13.1 92.0 5.5 2.5

Offi ce and administrative support occupations ........................... 4.2 97.5 1.4 1.1

Farming, fi shing, and forestry occupations ................................. 9.8 91.3 7.9 .8

Construction and extraction occupations .................................... 3.8 95.6 1.2 3.2

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ...................... 5.6 96.7 1.2 2.1

Production occupations ............................................................... 2.0 97.8 .7 1.4

Transportation occupations ......................................................... 2.9 94.5 .9 4.6

 

Self-employed, total .......................................................................... 34.3 71.1 23.5 5.4

Management occupations ........................................................... 37.4 67.4 26.4 6.2

Business and fi nancial operations occupations .......................... 48.6 62.2 32.3 5.5

Legal occupations ...................................................................... 46.6 70.9 20.5 8.6

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations ...... 54.9 35.3 55.2 9.5

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations...................... 30.0 88.2 8.3 3.5

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations ... 20.1 80.3 13.2 6.5

Personal care occupations .......................................................... 37.1 52.0 42.6 5.5

Sales and related occupations .................................................... 29.0 77.0 16.0 7.0

Construction and extraction occupations .................................... 23.5 89.3 8.1 2.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ...................... 22.8 84.3 14.3 1.4

Transportation occupations ......................................................... 28.6 84.7 11.3 4.0

All other occupations ................................................................... 39.9 63.6 32.6 3.8
3

Chart 2. About 28 percent of the full-time self-employed1 who had a single job worked more than 7 hours at 

home on days that they worked at home

Percent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

30.0

13.5

9.6

6.3

4.9 4.2 3.4

7.0

4.3

2.8

7.9

6.1

≤ 1 >1 to 2 >2 to 3 >3 to 4 >4 to 5 >5 to 6 >6 to 7 >7 to 8 >8 to 9 >9 to 10 >10 to 11 More

 than 11

Hours worked at home

1

 Includes unincorporated self-employed workers. Data are only for days on which workers did some work at home. 

Data are averages for 2003–07.

Chart 1. More than 50 percent of full-time wage and salary1 workers with a single job worked 1 hour 

or less at home on days that they worked at home

Percent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

≤ 1 >1 to 2 >2 to 3 >3 to 4 >4 to 5 >5 to 6 >6 to 7 >7 to 8 >8 to 9 >9 to 10 >10 to 11 More

 than 11

Hours worked at home

52.0

16.2

10.1

6.4

3.2 2.1 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.9 0.9 1.5

 1 Excludes unincorporated self-employed workers. Data are only for days on which workers did some work at home.

Data are averages for 2003-07.