The D.C. metro ranks No. 3 in the nation for inventory of coworking spaces with nearly 250 locations operated by several big players in the coworking industry, according to a recently published study.

D.C. coworking memberships are also fairly expensive compared to other cities. The monthly membership for an open workspace averages $200 a month, ranking third-highest nationally, according to CoWorking Cafe.

D.C. is a relative bargain for virtual coworking contracts — which people oftentimes “use when they don’t necessarily need a physical space,” said CoWorking Cafe writer Laura Pop-Badiu.

Instead, people using those contracts need a business address and sometimes services like mail handling, she said.

“In the D.C. area, where quite naturally you can get some of the best addresses in the country, D.C. averaged a monthly virtual workspace price of only $80,” said Pop-Badiu.

The coworking industry, largely the realm of freelancers and startups before the pandemic, did suffer a setback when the pandemic hit, as did almost all industries. But the unprecedented pivot to working remotely quickly began fueling coworking growth.

Hybrid and remote workers aren’t in the office, but they’re not always at home either.

“From a commute standpoint, coworking spaces tend to be much more accessible,” Pop-Badiu said. “It is much easier to find one close to home than to travel to the other side of the city to you company’s office and just sit in traffic for long periods of time.”

While traditional office vacancy rates are rising, between the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2023, the inventory of coworking spaces in the 50 largest metros grew by 11.5%.

If hybrid and remote workers don’t need to commute at all, why not just work from home when allowed? It turns out a lot of hybrid and remote workers don’t want to be in their company’s office, but they kind of do want to be in some kind of office.

“They can only talk to their colleagues on Zoom calls or things like that, but they miss that day-to-day interaction,” Pop-Badiu said. “They can even meet people working in the same industry. They can make friends. They can meet business partners.”

According to the D.C. Policy Center, 51% of jobs in the D.C. metro can be performed remotely or with a hybrid arrangement, compared to 37% nationally.