Attachment D Work at Home 2004

Attachment D

2

Technical information:

Media contact:

(202) 691-6378
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
691-5902

USDL 05-1768
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Thursday, September 22, 2005

WORK AT HOME IN 2004
In May 2004, 20.7 million persons usually did some work at home as part of their primary job, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. These workers, who reported
working at home at least once per week, accounted for about 15 percent of total nonagricultural employment
in May 2004, essentially the same percentage as in May 2001. (See table A.)
These findings are from a special supplement to the May 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS). The
CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. Data on work at home were
last collected in the CPS in May 2001. The May 2001 data presented in this release have been revised to
be comparable with the May 2004 estimates. For further information, see the Technical Note.
Occupation and Industry
The likelihood of working at home varies greatly by occupation. This is not surprising, since some jobs
are more readily done away from the workplace than others. Almost 30 percent of workers in management,
professional, and related occupations reported working at home in May 2004. Nearly two-thirds of persons
who usually worked at home were employed in these occupations. About 1 in 5 sales workers usually
worked at home. In contrast, only 3 percent of workers in production, transportation, and material moving
occupations performed job-related work at home. From an industry perspective, workers employed in
professional and business services, in financial activities, and in education and health services were among the
most likely to work at home in 2004. (See table 1.)
Pay Status
Of the 13.7 million wage and salary workers who usually did some work at home in 2004, about
3.3 million, or 1 in 4, had a formal arrangement with their employer to be paid for the time they put in at
home. About half of these paid home workers spent 8 hours or more per week working at home, and about
1 in 7 put in 35 hours or more per week at home. On average, those with a formal arrangement to be paid
for their work time at home logged about 19 hours per week at home. (See tables 3 and 6.)
About three-fourths of wage and salary workers who did job-related work at home on a regular basis
did so without a formal arrangement to be paid for this work. Of these 10.2 million workers just taking
work home from the job, about 22 percent regularly worked 8 hours or more per week at home. Workers
doing unpaid job-related activity at home averaged about 7 hours per week at home. (See tables 4 and 6.)

2
Table A. Job-related work at home on primary job by selected characteristics, May 2001 and May 2004
(Percent)
Persons who usually worked at home 1
Percent distribution by class of worker 2
Characteristic

Percent of
total
employed

Wage and salary
Total

Paid work
at home

Unpaid
work at
home

Selfemployed
3

May 2001 r
Total, 16 years and over ...............................................................
Men .................................................................................................
Women ...........................................................................................

14.9
14.6
15.2

100.0
100.0
100.0

17.1
15.9
18.3

51.9
50.4
53.5

30.2
32.8
27.3

White 4 ............................................................................................
Black or African American 4 ...........................................................
Asian 4 ............................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .............................................................

16.2
7.7
10.0
6.6

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

17.1
15.1
18.6
18.5

51.5
57.7
56.8
48.8

30.6
26.0
24.0
31.4

Total, 25 years and over ...............................................................
Less than a high school diploma ....................................................
High school graduates, no college 5 ...............................................
Some college or associate degree .................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 6 ......................................................

16.7
4.2
7.9
12.9
32.3

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.9
18.2
17.9
19.6
15.6

51.7
16.4
31.5
36.5
63.1

30.5
64.3
49.5
42.3
20.7

Total, 16 years and over ...............................................................
Men .................................................................................................
Women ...........................................................................................

15.1
14.9
15.4

100.0
100.0
100.0

16.2
14.7
17.8

49.3
47.3
51.4

33.7
37.6
29.4

White 4 ............................................................................................
Black or African American 4 ...........................................................
Asian 4 ............................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .............................................................

16.3
7.9
12.7
7.1

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.4
14.2
14.2
19.1

49.0
53.0
52.1
45.0

33.8
31.0
33.7
34.4

Total, 25 years and over ...............................................................
Less than a high school diploma ....................................................
High school graduates, no college 5 ...............................................
Some college or associate degree .................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 6 ......................................................

17.0
4.9
7.6
13.7
31.6

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.0
15.7
15.4
19.4
15.0

49.1
24.0
28.7
32.8
60.5

34.0
58.9
54.0
46.7
24.1

May 2004

1 Persons who usually work at home are defined as those who work at home at least once per week as part of their primary job.
2 Unpaid family workers and wage and salary workers who did not report pay status are included in the total but are not shown

separately.
3 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
4 Beginning in 2003, includes persons who selected this race group only; persons who selected more than one race group are
not included. Prior to 2003, persons who reported more than one race group were included in the group they identified as their
main race. Asian data for 2001 include Pacific Islanders.
5 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
6 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees.
r = revised. Data for May 2001 have been revised to incorporate population controls from Census 2000 and new industry and
occupational classifications. See the Technical Note for additional information.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported that they usually work at home at least once
per week as part of their primary job. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not
sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino
may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.

3

Among those with a formal arrangement to be paid for work at home, more than half worked in
management and professional jobs, and another 1 in 5 worked in sales occupations. Managers and
professionals accounted for about four-fifths of those just taking work home from the job. Schoolteachers
and instructors (excluding college) especially were likely to take work home, with 2.8 million—or about half
of all teachers—reporting such activity in the May 2004 survey. About 1 in 10 persons who put in time at
home without a formal arrangement worked in sales jobs. (See tables 1, 3, and 4.)
Self-Employed Persons and Home-Based Businesses
About one-third of persons who usually worked at home in May 2004 were self-employed. Of the
7.0 million self-employed persons who worked at home, two-thirds had a home-based business—that is,
a business run from their home and no other location. Nearly half of self-employed persons with a homebased business worked at least 8 hours per week at home, and almost 22 percent put in 35 hours or more
at home. On average, self-employed persons with a home-based business worked 25 hours per week at
home. (See tables 1 and 5.)
About 45 percent of self-employed persons with home-based businesses were in management,
professional, and related occupations in May 2004. Sixteen percent were employed in sales and related
occupations. On an industry basis, about 1 in 4 self-employed persons with a home-based business worked
in professional and business services. Some 18 percent of persons with a home-based business were
employed in the construction industry. (See table 5.)
Demographics
Women and men were about equally likely to work at home in 2004, at about 15 percent each. Whites
(16 percent) were twice as likely as blacks (8 percent) and Hispanics or Latinos (7 percent) to work at
home, reflecting, at least in part, the relatively higher concentration of whites in occupations that are associated with work at home. Nearly 13 percent of Asians worked at home in 2004. The work-at-home rate
for parents was slightly higher than for persons without children. Married persons were more likely to work
at home than their non-married counterparts. (See tables 1 and 2.)
The likelihood of working at home increased with educational attainment. Employed persons 25 years
and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more than 6 times more likely to work at home as those
without a high school diploma (32 and 5 percent, respectively). Much of this disparity is due to the varying
occupational patterns of workers with different levels of education. For example, college graduates are much
more likely to be employed in managerial and professional occupations—which have a greater work-at-home
rate—than are high school dropouts. (See table 1.)
Reason for Job-Related Work at Home
Among wage and salary workers who were taking work home without a formal arrangement to be paid
for that work, the most common reason for working at home was to “finish or catch up on work” (56 percent). An additional 32 percent reported that they worked at home at least once per week because it was
the “nature of the job.” For those paid to work at home as part of a formal arrangement with their employer, the reasons were more varied. For example, 40 percent reported it was the “nature of the job,”
24 percent indicated that “business is conducted from home,” 13 percent worked at home to “finish or catch
up on work,” and 9 percent arranged to work at home to “coordinate work schedule with personal or family
needs.” Almost half of all self-employed workers—and more than 60 percent of those with home-based
businesses—indicated the main reason for working at home was because their “business is conducted from

4

home.” An additional 24 percent of self-employed persons responded that it was the “nature of the job” to
work at home. (See table 7.)
Use of Electronic Equipment
About 8 in 10 of those engaged in job-related work at home in May 2004 used a computer as part of
their work at home, and just slightly fewer used a telephone. About 70 percent of all persons who usually
worked at home made use of the Internet or e-mail to work at home. In general, wage and salary workers
who were paid to work at home as part of a formal arrangement were more likely to use electronic equipment at home than those who were just taking work home from the job. (See table 6.)
Frequency of Work at Home
The focus of this report is the 20.7 million persons who reported in May 2004 that they worked at home
at least once per week. The total number of persons who reported that they worked at home in the May
2004 survey—regardless of how often they engaged in home-based work activity—was 25.4 million
(18.6 percent of total nonagricultural employment). This includes, in addition to those who usually worked
at home, 1.9 million persons who worked at home at least once every 2 weeks, 1.6 million who worked at
home at least once per month, and about 880,000 who worked at home less than once per month. While
the total number of persons who reported some work at home in the May 2004 survey was about the same
as in May 2001, the share working at home at least once per week (81 percent in May 2004) edged up
somewhat. (See table 8.)

Technical Note
These data and other information on work at home were
obtained from a supplement to the May 2004 Current Population
Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly sample survey of about
60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), principally to gather
information on employment and unemployment for the nation.
Respondents to the May 2004 supplement answered questions
about work schedules, job-related work at home, and other
related topics. The data in this release pertain to workers who
did some job-related work at home on their primary job in
nonagricultural industries.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory
impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200;
TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and
nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire
population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample
estimates may differ from the “true” population values they
represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies
depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability
is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is
about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an
estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6
standard errors from the “true” population value because of
sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90percent level of confidence.
The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error.
Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the
failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain
information for all respondents in the sample, inability or
unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information,
and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS
and information on estimating standard errors, see the
“Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” section of
Employment and Earnings.
Concepts
The principal concepts used in connection with the work-athome data are described briefly below.
Work at home. Respondents were asked whether they do
any of their work at home as part of their primary job in
nonagricultural industries. Persons who worked at home at least
once a week—referred to as those who usually worked at
home—are the focus of this report. Wage and salary workers
who worked at home were asked if they have a formal
arrangement with their employer to be paid for the work that
they do at home, or if they were just taking work home from the
job.

Home-based business. Self-employed persons who usually
worked at home and whose business is run from home and no
other location are considered to have a home-based business.
This includes all self-employed persons in nonagricultural
industries, whether or not their business is incorporated who
reported that they usually worked at home at least once per
week as part of their primary job.
Data discussed in this release on job-related work at home
were obtained from the following questions:
As part of this job, do you do any of your work at home?
1. Yes
2. No
(Wage and salary workers only) Do you have a formal
arrangement with your employer to be paid for the work that you
do at home, or were you just taking work home from the job?
1. Paid
2. Taking work home
(Self-employed only) Do you run your business from home or
some other location?
1. Home
2. Some other location
3. Both
How frequently do you work at home? (Interviewer reads all.)
1. At least once a week
2. At least once every two weeks
3. At least once a month
4. Less than once a month
When you work at home, how many hours per week do you
work at home for this job?
1. Hours: ___
2. It varies
Do you use any of the following equipment at home to do your
work? (Interviewer reads all.)
1. Computer, including laptop
2. E-mail or Internet access
3. Fax
4. Telephone, cell phone, or pager
5. Some other electronic or communication equipment
What is the main reason why you work at home? (Interviewer
reads all.)
1. Finish or catch up on work
2. Business is conducted from home
3 . Nature of the job
4. Coordinate work schedule with personal or family
needs
5. Reduce commuting time or expense
6. Local transportation or pollution control program
7. Some other reason

Special notes on May 2004 work-at-home data
This release focuses on persons who worked at home at least
once per week on their primary job in nonagricultural industries.
This group—referred to as those who usually worked at home—
totaled 20.7 million in May 2004 and accounted for about fourfifths of all persons who responded that they did job-related
work at home. When persons who worked at home less
frequently are included (that is, at least once every 2 weeks,
once per month, or less than once per month), a total of 25.4
million workers engaged in work at home to some degree in
May 2004. Unpublished tabulations of May 2004 data for all
workers—not restricted by frequency of work at home—are
available upon request.

Historical comparability
Data in this release for May 2004 and May 2001 are not
strictly comparable with earlier data on work at home. The May
2001 data in this release have been revised to incorporate
population controls from Census 2000. The revised data also
reflect new industry and occupational classifications, which
affect the class of worker status—that is, the classification of
workers as either self-employed or wage and salary workers.
These changes affect comparability with 2001 estimates as
originally published in “Work at Home in 2001” (USDL 02-107,
March 1, 2002). In addition, changes in the wording of
questions in 2001 affected comparability with data collected in
previous surveys. For a fuller discussion of these changes, see
the Technical Note of “Work at Home in 2001.”

Table 1. Job-related work at home on primary job by sex, occupation, industry, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, educational
attainment, class of worker, and pay status, May 2004
(Numbers in thousands)
Persons who usually worked at home 2
Percent distribution by class of worker 3
Characteristic

Total, 16 years and over ...................................................................
Men .....................................................................................................
Women ...............................................................................................

Total
employed 1

Total

Percent of
total
employed

Wage and salary
Total

Paid work
at home

Unpaid
work at
home

Selfemployed 4

136,602
72,417
64,185

20,673
10,780
9,893

15.1
14.9
15.4

100.0
100.0
100.0

16.2
14.7
17.8

49.3
47.3
51.4

33.7
37.6
29.4

47,829
19,205
28,623
22,752
35,133
15,886
19,247
13,111
195
7,927
4,989
17,777
9,240
8,538

13,445
5,602
7,842
1,414
4,291
3,137
1,154
1,036
3
705
329
488
276
212

28.1
29.2
27.4
6.2
12.2
19.7
6.0
7.9
1.5
8.9
6.6
2.7
3.0
2.5

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

13.9
16.2
12.2
20.6
24.1
21.8
30.5
10.2
(5)
6.1
18.4
10.6
12.8
7.7

59.9
46.6
69.5
20.9
36.1
35.4
38.0
15.1
(5)
13.3
19.1
26.6
22.1
32.5

25.7
36.9
17.7
54.8
38.6
42.2
28.9
73.8
(5)
80.6
59.6
62.8
65.0
59.8

491
10,316
16,626
20,766
6,845
3,520
9,874
13,905
29,290
12,078
6,971
5,918

44
1,491
1,488
2,416
459
638
2,210
3,401
6,189
731
1,113
493

9.0
14.5
8.9
11.6
6.7
18.1
22.4
24.5
21.1
6.0
16.0
8.3

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

(5)
7.1
26.3
21.1
14.7
30.0
21.3
17.6
9.2
10.7
18.4
31.4

(5)
19.4
55.3
36.2
43.7
41.6
39.9
33.2
76.0
27.5
41.0
67.6

(5)
72.8
18.2
41.8
39.5
28.4
38.4
48.8
14.3
61.8
33.7
–

111,756
15,800
5,630
17,577

18,255
1,245
718
1,255

16.3
7.9
12.7
7.1

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.4
14.2
14.2
19.1

49.0
53.0
52.1
45.0

33.8
31.0
33.7
34.4

117,610
10,979
34,760
32,772
39,099

20,024
539
2,631
4,482
12,372

17.0
4.9
7.6
13.7
31.6

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.0
15.7
15.4
19.4
15.0

49.1
24.0
28.7
32.8
60.5

34.0
58.9
54.0
46.7
24.1

Occupation
Management, professional, and related occupations .........................
Management, business, and financial operations occupations ........
Professional and related occupations ...............................................
Service occupations ...........................................................................
Sales and office occupations ..............................................................
Sales and related occupations .........................................................
Office and administrative support occupations .................................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations ........
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations .......................................
Construction and extraction occupations ..........................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ...........................
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ............
Production occupations ....................................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations .............................
Industry
Mining .................................................................................................
Construction .......................................................................................
Manufacturing .....................................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ..................................................................
Transportation and utilities .................................................................
Information ..........................................................................................
Financial activities ..............................................................................
Professional and business services ...................................................
Education and health services ............................................................
Leisure and hospitality ........................................................................
Other services ....................................................................................
Public administration ..........................................................................
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White ..................................................................................................
Black or African American ..................................................................
Asian ...................................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................................................
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years and over ...................................................................
Less than a high school diploma ........................................................
High school graduates, no college 6 ...................................................
Some college or associate degree .....................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 7 ..........................................................

1 Includes persons who did not provide information on work at home.
2 Persons who usually work at home are defined as those who work at

home at least once per week as part of their primary job.
3 Unpaid family workers and wage and salary workers who did not report
pay status are included in the total but are not shown separately.
4 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
5 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
6 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.

7 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral
degrees.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries.
Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and
Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. In
addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be
of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.
Dash represents or rounds to zero.

Table 2. Job-related work at home on primary job by sex, marital status, presence and age of children, class of
worker, and pay status, May 2004
(Numbers in thousands)
Persons who usually worked at home 2
Percent distribution by class of worker 3
Characteristic

Total
employed 1

Total

Percent of
total
employed

Wage and salary
Total

Paid work
at home

Unpaid
work at
home

Selfemployed 4

Total, 16 years and over .......................................
Married, spouse present ...................................
Not married .......................................................
Never married .................................................
Other marital status ........................................

136,602
77,243
59,359
36,857
22,502

20,673
14,623
6,050
3,087
2,963

15.1
18.9
10.2
8.4
13.2

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.2
16.4
15.7
17.7
13.6

49.3
48.1
52.2
58.1
46.1

33.7
34.6
31.5
23.2
40.2

Without own children under 18 .........................
With own children under 18 ..............................
With youngest child 6 to 17 ............................
With youngest child under 6 ...........................

86,591
50,011
28,638
21,373

12,090
8,584
4,985
3,599

14.0
17.2
17.4
16.8

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

15.4
17.4
16.0
19.2

50.5
47.5
47.8
47.3

33.4
34.0
34.9
32.8

Men, 16 years and over ........................................
Married, spouse present ...................................
Not married .......................................................
Never married .................................................
Other marital status ........................................

72,417
43,493
28,924
20,104
8,820

10,780
8,114
2,666
1,565
1,101

14.9
18.7
9.2
7.8
12.5

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

14.7
15.0
13.9
16.2
10.5

47.3
47.5
46.8
50.3
41.8

37.6
37.1
39.1
33.3
47.4

Without own children under 18 .........................
With own children under 18 ..............................
With youngest child 6 to 17 ............................
With youngest child under 6 ...........................

46,514
25,903
13,861
12,042

6,247
4,533
2,547
1,986

13.4
17.5
18.4
16.5

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

14.5
15.1
14.5
15.8

46.5
48.4
46.3
51.0

38.6
36.3
38.8
33.0

Women, 16 years and over ..................................
Married, spouse present ...................................
Not married .......................................................
Never married .................................................
Other marital status ........................................

64,185
33,750
30,435
16,754
13,681

9,893
6,509
3,384
1,522
1,862

15.4
19.3
11.1
9.1
13.6

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

17.8
18.2
17.1
19.2
15.3

51.4
48.8
56.5
66.2
48.6

29.4
31.4
25.5
12.7
35.9

Without own children under 18 .........................
With own children under 18 ..............................
With youngest child 6 to 17 ............................
With youngest child under 6 ...........................

40,077
24,108
14,777
9,331

5,842
4,051
2,438
1,614

14.6
16.8
16.5
17.3

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

16.3
19.9
17.7
23.4

54.8
46.6
49.3
42.6

27.9
31.5
30.8
32.6

1 Includes persons who did not provide information on work at
home.
2 Persons who usually work at home are defined as those who
work at home at least once per week as part of their primary job.
3 Unpaid family workers and wage and salary workers who did
not report pay status are included in the total but are not shown
separately.

4 Includes
both the incorporated and unincorporated
self-employed.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural
industries. Children are own children and include sons, daughters,
step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces,
nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.

Table 3. Hours of paid job-related work at home on primary job among wage and salary workers by selected characteristics,
May 2004
(Numbers in thousands)
Percent distribution by hours worked at home 2
Characteristic

Total, 16 years and over ...................................................................
Men .....................................................................................................
Women ...............................................................................................

Paid work
at home 1

Total

35 hours
or more

Mean
weekly
hours
usually
worked at
home

8 hours or more
Total

Hours vary

Less than
8 hours

3,349
1,589
1,760

100.0
100.0
100.0

29.0
30.0
28.0

21.1
22.2
20.0

49.5
47.2
51.6

14.8
14.7
14.8

18.6
18.3
18.9

1,866
908
958
292
1,035
682
352
105
2
43
60
52
35
16

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

27.8
25.9
29.7
27.8
31.6
33.9
27.3
31.3
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

23.0
19.2
26.6
13.0
16.7
14.2
21.5
44.1
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

48.7
54.5
43.2
58.4
51.4
51.6
51.2
24.7
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

12.2
15.9
8.7
29.3
16.0
17.4
13.3
4.1
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

16.5
18.8
14.3
28.2
20.8
22.4
18.1
8.8
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)

6
106
391
511
68
191
471
598
571
78
205
155

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

(3)
21.1
20.6
33.4
(3)
27.9
37.7
26.4
23.0
12.9
41.1
39.0

(3)
27.7
23.2
17.8
(3)
22.6
11.0
18.4
29.7
18.5
22.6
23.8

(3)
51.1
56.2
48.8
(3)
49.5
49.8
54.5
47.2
68.6
35.1
37.2

(3)
7.9
11.8
12.8
(3)
17.0
16.0
22.2
13.8
19.6
11.4
2.3

(3)
13.7
16.2
19.0
(3)
19.5
22.2
21.8
17.7
18.2
16.4
11.7

2,999
176
102
240

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

28.1
36.8
32.5
32.7

20.9
33.6
3.5
12.6

50.8
29.6
58.9
54.7

15.3
5.4
18.6
16.9

19.0
11.7
22.7
21.1

3,214
85
405
870
1,854

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

29.2
12.1
35.4
28.2
29.1

20.5
19.8
16.7
25.5
19.0

49.9
67.1
47.6
46.2
51.3

15.0
35.6
16.3
14.9
13.8

18.9
26.7
20.2
17.9
18.7

Occupation
Management, professional, and related occupations .........................
Management, business, and financial operations occupations ........
Professional and related occupations ...............................................
Service occupations ...........................................................................
Sales and office occupations ..............................................................
Sales and related occupations .........................................................
Office and administrative support occupations .................................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations ........
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations .......................................
Construction and extraction occupations ..........................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ...........................
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ............
Production occupations ....................................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations .............................
Industry
Mining .................................................................................................
Construction .......................................................................................
Manufacturing .....................................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ..................................................................
Transportation and utilities .................................................................
Information ..........................................................................................
Financial activities ..............................................................................
Professional and business services ...................................................
Education and health services ............................................................
Leisure and hospitality ........................................................................
Other services ....................................................................................
Public administration ..........................................................................
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White ..................................................................................................
Black or African American ..................................................................
Asian ...................................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................................................
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years and over ...................................................................
Less than a high school diploma ........................................................
High school graduates, no college 4 ...................................................
Some college or associate degree .....................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 5 ..........................................................

1 Includes persons who worked at home at least once per week but did
not report the number of hours usually worked.
2 Persons who did not report the number of hours worked are included
in the total but are not shown separately.
3 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
4 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
5 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral
degrees.

NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who
reported that they usually work at home at least once per week as part of
their primary job and exclude the incorporated and unincorporated
self-employed. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or
African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not
presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as
Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by
ethnicity as well as by race.

Table 4. Hours of unpaid job-related work at home on primary job among wage and salary workers by selected characteristics,
May 2004
(Numbers in thousands)
Percent distribution by hours worked at home 2
Characteristic

Total, 16 years and over ...................................................................
Men .....................................................................................................
Women ...............................................................................................

Unpaid
work at
home 1

8 hours or more
Total

Hours vary

Less than
8 hours

Total

35 hours
or more

Mean
weekly
hours
usually
worked at
home

10,189
5,099
5,090

100.0
100.0
100.0

29.6
31.6
27.6

47.8
45.8
49.7

21.9
21.8
22.1

.9
.8
1.1

6.8
6.9
6.8

8,058
2,608
5,450
295
1,549
1,110
438
157
94
63
130
61
69

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

28.7
30.9
27.6
35.6
32.9
33.6
30.9
36.6
32.9
(3)
28.4
(3)
(3)

48.6
51.2
47.4
51.2
40.9
35.1
55.7
47.9
55.0
(3)
66.4
(3)
(3)

22.0
17.4
24.2
13.2
25.3
30.1
13.1
15.5
12.2
(3)
5.2
(3)
3
( )

.8
.9
.7
3.3
1.3
1.4
1.2
.4
–
(3)
–
(3)
(3)

6.8
6.3
7.0
6.8
7.5
8.5
5.2
5.8
4.5
(3)
3.3
(3)
(3)

28
290
822
876
201
266
881
1,130
4,706
201
457
333

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

(3)
23.8
28.5
29.6
37.3
29.0
36.9
33.9
25.3
30.9
48.5
32.2

(3)
61.6
53.3
45.2
54.4
38.6
38.2
44.3
49.4
55.1
36.4
58.7

(3)
14.6
16.8
24.0
8.3
32.3
24.1
21.8
24.7
14.0
14.3
7.3

(3)
.1
.7
1.3
–
2.0
1.3
1.1
.6
.6
2.5
1.2

(3)
4.8
6.2
7.0
4.2
8.3
8.1
7.2
6.8
5.5
8.7
5.0

8,952
660
374
564

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

28.8
43.2
27.0
23.0

48.3
41.1
44.5
59.0

22.1
15.5
27.6
17.6

.7
.8
2.5
1.9

6.7
6.3
8.4
6.5

9,836
130
756
1,471
7,479

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

29.8
45.7
36.6
31.5
28.5

47.3
49.0
49.2
49.9
46.6

22.2
5.3
13.9
18.0
24.2

1.0
–
1.4
.8
1.0

6.9
4.9
5.7
6.3
7.2

Occupation
Management, professional, and related occupations .........................
Management, business, and financial operations occupations ........
Professional and related occupations ...............................................
Service occupations ...........................................................................
Sales and office occupations ..............................................................
Sales and related occupations .........................................................
Office and administrative support occupations .................................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations ........
Construction and extraction occupations ..........................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations ...........................
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ............
Production occupations ....................................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations .............................
Industry
Mining .................................................................................................
Construction .......................................................................................
Manufacturing .....................................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ..................................................................
Transportation and utilities .................................................................
Information ..........................................................................................
Financial activities ..............................................................................
Professional and business services ...................................................
Education and health services ............................................................
Leisure and hospitality ........................................................................
Other services ....................................................................................
Public administration ..........................................................................
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White ..................................................................................................
Black or African American ..................................................................
Asian ...................................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................................................
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years and over ...................................................................
Less than a high school diploma ........................................................
High school graduates, no college 4 ...................................................
Some college or associate degree .....................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 5 ..........................................................

1 Includes persons who worked at home at least once per week but did
not report the number of hours usually worked.
2 Persons who did not report the number of hours worked are included
in the total but are not shown separately.
3 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
4 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
5 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral
degrees.

NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who
reported that they usually work at home at least once per week as part of
their primary job and exclude the incorporated and unincorporated
self-employed. Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or
African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not
presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as
Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by
ethnicity as well as by race. Dash represents or rounds to zero.

Table 5. Self-employed persons with home-based businesses by selected characteristics, May 2004
(Numbers in thousands)
Self-employed persons with home-based businesses 2

Characteristic

Total, 16 years and over .........................................................
Men ...........................................................................................
Women .....................................................................................

Selfemployed
persons
who
worked at
home 1

Total

Percent of
self-employed
who worked at
home with a
home-based
business

Percent distribution by hours worked at home 3

Total

35 hours
or more

Mean
weekly
hours
usually
worked at
home

8 hours or more
Total

Hours vary

Less than
8 hours

6,960
4,056
2,904

4,627
2,471
2,156

66.5
60.9
74.2

100.0
100.0
100.0

37.7
38.3
37.1

13.3
16.7
9.4

48.7
44.6
53.5

22.3
18.9
26.2

25.4
22.7
28.3

3,458

2,103

60.8

100.0

38.5

9.9

51.3

23.8

26.6

2,067
1,390
774
1,657
1,323
334

1,289
814
662
990
725
265

62.3
58.6
85.4
59.8
54.8
79.2

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

39.7
36.6
23.2
41.4
43.6
35.4

9.7
10.0
9.4
12.5
11.3
15.5

50.3
53.0
67.3
46.0
44.9
49.2

23.3
24.5
44.3
16.1
15.3
18.3

25.6
28.0
34.4
23.0
23.3
22.1

765
1
568
196
306
180
127

620
1
481
138
253
151
102

81.0
(4)
84.6
70.6
82.4
84.0
80.2

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

43.0
(4)
42.8
43.9
41.9
38.5
47.0

27.8
(4)
31.6
14.8
19.7
13.5
28.8

28.5
(4)
24.8
41.2
38.4
48.0
24.2

5.3
(4)
3.0
13.2
19.5
26.5
9.2

12.8
20.0
9.8
23.2
22.3
28.2
12.1

11
1,086
271
1,011
181
181
848
1,658
885
452
375

6
843
182
585
124
136
443
1,182
585
288
255

(4)
77.6
67.0
57.9
68.3
74.9
52.2
71.3
66.0
63.8
68.0

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

(4)
40.9
28.5
46.4
42.6
30.7
39.5
41.7
20.5
39.3
32.4

(4)
27.1
9.3
11.6
28.9
6.6
7.9
10.2
9.0
5.5
12.6

(4)
31.5
62.2
42.0
28.5
62.7
52.2
47.8
70.1
54.9
55.0

(4)
5.1
38.6
14.9
15.4
37.8
22.4
23.2
49.4
20.3
16.6

9.2
12.2
31.6
23.9
15.1
32.1
26.5
26.6
35.5
29.0
24.3

6,163
386
242
431

4,147
255
97
307

67.3
65.9
40.3
71.1

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

37.4
43.9
26.3
45.4

14.0
1.0
19.9
13.7

48.4
54.1
53.8
40.9

21.7
30.8
25.6
24.3

24.8
34.6
24.2
26.3

6,815
318
1,420
2,092
2,985

4,499
275
1,087
1,434
1,703

66.0
86.6
76.6
68.5
57.0

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

37.6
43.7
36.2
39.2
36.0

13.4
12.6
19.5
10.9
11.7

48.8
43.8
43.9
49.6
52.0

22.4
22.2
22.2
20.7
24.1

25.4
28.3
23.3
25.8
25.9

Occupation
Management, professional, and related occupations ...............
Management, business, and financial operations
occupations ........................................................................
Professional and related occupations .....................................
Service occupations .................................................................
Sales and office occupations ....................................................
Sales and related occupations ...............................................
Office and administrative support occupations .......................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance
occupations ........................................................................
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations .............................
Construction and extraction occupations ................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations .................
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ..
Production occupations ..........................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations ...................
Industry
Mining .......................................................................................
Construction .............................................................................
Manufacturing ...........................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ........................................................
Transportation and utilities .......................................................
Information ................................................................................
Financial activities ....................................................................
Professional and business services .........................................
Education and health services ..................................................
Leisure and hospitality ..............................................................
Other services ..........................................................................
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White ........................................................................................
Black or African American ........................................................
Asian .........................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .......................................................
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years and over .........................................................
Less than a high school diploma ..............................................
High school graduates, no college 5 .........................................
Some college or associate degree ...........................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 6 ................................................

1 Includes persons who worked at home at least once per week but did not
report the number of hours usually worked.
2 Refers to self-employed persons who worked at home and reported that they
ran their business from home and no other location.
3 Persons who did not report the number of hours worked are included in the
total but are not shown separately.
4 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
5 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
6 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral

degrees.
NOTE: Data refer to self-employed persons, regardless of whether their business
is incorporated, in nonagricultural industries who reported that they usually work at
home at least once per week as part of their primary job. Estimates for the above
race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals
because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity
is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified
by ethnicity as well as by race.

Table 6. Job-related work at home on primary job by usage of electronic equipment at home, sex, class
of worker, and pay status, May 2004

Characteristic

Total, 16 years and over .....................................
Men .......................................................................
Women .................................................................

Percent of workers using electronic equipment for work

Worked at
home 1(in
thousands)

Computer

Internet or
e-mail

Fax

Telephone

20,673
10,780
9,893

80.6
82.9
78.1

69.6
73.0
65.8

43.1
48.6
37.1

78.0
83.4
72.1

6.6
7.7
5.5

13,678
3,349
10,189
6,960
4,627

83.0
84.8
82.8
76.0
74.0

71.5
78.3
69.6
65.8
63.2

35.0
55.3
28.3
58.9
58.9

73.4
84.6
69.7
87.0
86.9

6.5
10.2
5.3
6.9
6.6

Other

Class of worker and pay status 2
Wage and salary workers 3 ..................................
Paid work at home ..............................................
Unpaid work at home ..........................................
Self-employed 4 ....................................................
With a home-based business 5 ..........................

1 Includes persons who worked at home at least once per
week. This total includes persons who did not report usage
of electronic equipment.
2 Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3 Includes persons who worked at home but did not
report pay status.
4 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated
self-employed.
5 Refers to self-employed persons who worked at home
and reported that they ran their business from home and no

other location.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural
industries who reported that they usually work at home at
least once per week as part of their primary job. The sum of
workers using electronic equipment at home exceeds the
total number who worked at home because many of these
workers used more than one type of equipment. "Other"
electronic equipment includes scanners and other types of
computer-related peripheral equipment.

Table 7. Job-related work at home on primary job by reason for working at home, sex, class of worker, and pay status,
May 2004
Reason for working at home (percent)

Characteristic

Worked at
home 1(in
thousands)

Total, 16 years and over .....................................
Men .......................................................................
Women .................................................................

Coordinate
work
Reduce
schedule
Nature of
commuting
with
the job
time or
personal or
expense
family
needs

Finish or
catch up
on work

Business
is
conducted
from home

20,673
10,780
9,893

35.5
35.4
35.6

21.0
21.7
20.3

30.8
31.4
30.2

5.4
3.6
7.3

1.6
1.7
1.5

13,678
3,349
10,189
6,960
4,627

44.9
13.0
55.8
17.2
4.7

8.2
23.5
2.7
46.3
63.8

34.3
40.4
32.3
23.8
21.1

4.8
9.3
3.4
6.5
5.1

2.0
5.2
1.0
.7
.6

Local
transportation or
pollution
control
program

Some
other
reason

.1
.1

5.2
5.5
4.8

.1
.2

5.3
7.7
4.5
4.9
4.0

–

Class of worker and pay status 2
Wage and salary workers 3 ..................................
Paid work at home ..............................................
Unpaid work at home ..........................................
Self-employed 4 ....................................................
With a home-based business 5 ..........................

1 Persons who worked at home at least once per week. This total
includes persons who did not report a reason for working at home.
2 Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3 Includes persons who worked at home but did not report pay
status.
4 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.

–
.1
.1

5 Refers to self-employed persons who worked at home and
reported that they ran their business from home and no other location.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries
who reported that they usually work at home at least once per week as
part of their primary job. Dash represents or rounds to zero.

Table 8. Job-related work at home on primary job by sex, occupation, industry, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, educational
attainment, and frequency of work at home, May 2004
(In thousands)

Characteristic

Total who worked
at home 1

Worked at home
at least once per
week 2

Worked at home Worked at home Worked at home
at least once
at least once per less than once
every 2 weeks
month
per month

Total, 16 years and over ...............................................................
Men .................................................................................................
Women ...........................................................................................

25,437
13,309
12,128

20,673
10,780
9,893

1,929
1,093
835

1,637
836
800

881
438
443

16,665
7,073
9,591
1,617
5,285
3,586
1,700
1,273
3
834
436
597
338
259

13,445
5,602
7,842
1,414
4,291
3,137
1,154
1,036
3
705
329
488
276
212

1,377
608
769
78
347
211
137
105
–
62
43
22
12
11

1,092
523
569
63
373
141
232
57
–
35
22
51
29
22

536
270
266
48
209
65
144
55
–
26
29
33
21
12

51
1,758
1,965
2,939
601
849
2,739
4,264
7,322
873
1,302
773

44
1,491
1,488
2,416
459
638
2,210
3,401
6,189
731
1,113
493

3
122
183
213
42
98
212
331
485
46
80
114

–
77
178
164
61
77
190
323
364
51
70
82

2
52
89
114
35
33
89
148
191
32
28
69

22,418
1,554
924
1,491

18,255
1,245
718
1,255

1,728
97
69
64

1,422
106
81
100

749
75
45
48

24,579
599
3,300
5,686
14,995

20,024
539
2,631
4,482
12,372

1,854
13
197
448
1,197

1,565
29
271
431
835

827
11
147
278
392

Occupation
Management, professional, and related occupations .....................
Management, business, and financial operations occupations ....
Professional and related occupations ...........................................
Service occupations .......................................................................
Sales and office occupations ..........................................................
Sales and related occupations .....................................................
Office and administrative support occupations .............................
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations ....
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations ...................................
Construction and extraction occupations ......................................
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations .......................
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ........
Production occupations ................................................................
Transportation and material moving occupations .........................
Industry
Mining .............................................................................................
Construction ...................................................................................
Manufacturing .................................................................................
Wholesale and retail trade ..............................................................
Transportation and utilities .............................................................
Information ......................................................................................
Financial activities ..........................................................................
Professional and business services ...............................................
Education and health services ........................................................
Leisure and hospitality ....................................................................
Other services ................................................................................
Public administration ......................................................................
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
White ..............................................................................................
Black or African American ..............................................................
Asian ...............................................................................................
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .............................................................
Educational attainment
Total, 25 years and over ...............................................................
Less than a high school diploma ....................................................
High school graduates, no college 3 ...............................................
Some college or associate degree .................................................
Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 ......................................................

1 Includes persons who did not report frequency of work at home.
2 Persons who usually work at home—that is, persons who worked at

home at least once per week—are the focus of this report.
3 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
4 Includes persons with bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral
degrees.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who

reported that they work at home as part of their primary job. Estimates for the
above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum
to totals because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons
whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and,
therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Dash represents or
rounds to zero.