Our research found that 41% of Brits, approximately 22.1 million people, work from home at least some of the time. Alongside more traditional money tips like saving regularly or using a bank switching offer, working from home can save you money on commuting costs! We analyse who is working from home the most and what returning to the office full time might cost.
Working from home statistics: Highlights
2 in 5 Brits (41%) work from home at least some of the time as of December 2024, which is around 22.6 million people.
1 in 6 Brits (16%) work exclusively from home, while 1 in 4 (25%) are hybrid workers.
Those aged 30-49 are most likely to work from home some or all of the time, with 57% doing so.
Those with a higher income are more likely to work from home.
The average commute time in the UK is 28 minutes, which is almost an hour to and from work.
If you travelled to and from work every working day with the average commute, you’d spend 8 days, 21 hours and 44 minutes commuting in a year.
The average person travelling to work every day will spend almost £2,000 on commuting costs over a year. This is 7% of the average income for a UK worker.
How many people work from home?
An estimated 22.6 million Brits, or 41% of the population, work from home at least some of the time as of December 2024. 1 in 6 (16%) work from home all the time, while 1 in 4 (25%) are hybrid workers who split their time between home and travelling to work. 41% of adults travel exclusively to work and do not work from home.
Brits aged 30-49 are most likely to work exclusively from home, with almost a quarter (23%) of people in this age bracket doing so. They are also most likely to be hybrid workers – sometimes travelling to work and sometimes working from home – with a third (34%) having this working pattern. This means more than half of 30-49 year olds (57%) work from home at least some of the time.
The youngest age group, aged 16-29, are least likely to work from home, with only 7% working from home all of the time, and 1 in 5 (20%) hybrid working.
According to research in 2023, the likelihood of working remotely increases with the average income. More than a quarter (27%) of those earning £50,000 or more a year worked from home all of the time. At the other end of the spectrum, less than 1 in 10 (8%) of those earning less than £10,000 worked remotely.
Hybrid working was also more popular among high earners, with 53% of those earning £50,000 or more, 38% of those earning £40,000 or more and 33% of those earning £30,000 or more split their time between home and a place of work.
The average commute in the UK is 28 minutes. Over a day, this is almost an hour (56 minutes). If you travelled to work every day in 2024 with the average commute time, excluding holidays and weekends, you would spend 8 days, 21 hours and 44 minutes commuting.
While some people are still working from home and others are hybrid working, more than half of adults (56%) are still travelling to work and, therefore, will be spending a significant amount of their time on the daily commute.
The average cost of commuting to work around the UK
We’ve calculated the cost of commuting to and from work and buying lunch, so you can see how much you would be spending if you travelled to work every day.
Across the UK as a whole, the average commuter will spend an impressive £1,964 a year on travel and lunch costs. This is 7% of the average income for a UK worker!
Although it’s the biggest financial hub in the UK, London is also the most expensive region for commuting. The average person would spend £3,076 on travelling to work and buying lunch over a year.
Meanwhile, people in the North East of England spend much less on commuting to work, with the average yearly spend at £1,665. You can see the full regional breakdown and interactive map below.
Of course, these are just estimates and your personal commuting costs could be different, but it gives an idea of how much you could be shelling out.
Commuting to work as a percentage of take-home pay
London
£3,075.93
£32,747.20
9.4%
South East
£1,906.08
£30,126.40
6.3%
East of England
£1,824.64
£29,471.20
6.2%
West Midlands
£1,821.12
£27,505.60
6.6%
South West
£1,784.47
£27,942.40
6.4%
North West
£1,780.14
£27,396.40
6.5%
Yorkshire and The Humber
£1,779.54
£26,777.60
6.6%
East Midlands
£1,747.68
£27,068.80
6.5%
Scotland
£1,746.07
£29,325.60
6.0%
Wales
£1,703.01
£26,923.20
6.3%
North East
£1,664.71
£26,122.40
6.4%
UK average
£1,964.37
£28,597.60
6.9%
Methodology
Finder established the most popular method of commuting in each region of the UK and combined this with the average time spent commuting in each area to determine how much would be spent on travel.
The popular method of commuting in most regions of the UK, and the UK as a whole, is by car. The average journey times to work in each region and average petrol prices were then used to calculate the cost of commuting. The exception to this is London, where the majority of people travel to work by train, so we calculated the average yearly train costs instead.
Finder used the average cost of a meal deal to work out how much employees might spend on an affordable lunch each day.
Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact –
Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications T: +44 20 8191 8806
Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative articles that help consumers make informed decisions. See full bio
Sophie's expertise
Sophie has written 87 Finder guides across topics including:
Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio
Matthew's expertise
Matthew has written 287 Finder guides across topics including:
Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
Comparing bank accounts and highlighting useful features
Find out more about the specialised financial services provider, Aldermore, and decide if their cash ISAs, fixed rate bonds or other savings accounts are right for you.
Read about the Post Office and the savings accounts they offer. Find out more about the services Post Office Money provide, and see if they are right for you.
A cash ISA is a savings account where you never pay tax on the interest. Use our comparison table to find the best ISA rates – whether you want to lock cash in for a set time or keep it easy access.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser disclosure
Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.