Miami and Sunbelt Ranked Among Cheapest Places to Rent Coworking Spaces

For some businesses, rents for offices aren’t worth the cost of admission anymore given the slowdown the CRE asset class has seen with the work-from-home trend picking up since the pandemic. However, the solution to save money might be opting for coworking spaces – with Miami and other Sunbelt areas leading the charge.

A report from CoworkingCafe compared the annual costs of securing 10 dedicated desks versus leasing a traditional 2,000-square-foot office for 10 employees in 102 cities. Overall, the listing service found that the first option is more affordable in 97 percent of the cities compared with the latter one.

Miami provided the fifth biggest savings among the regions observed and was found to be 61.1 percent cheaper.

“South, Miami stands out by snagging fifth place in the nation with a 61% price gap, up from the 54% recorded in 2023,” CoworkingCafe wrote.

“Here, switching to dedicated-desk subscriptions can generate more than $70,000 in annual savings for a team of 10 employees.”

Securing the top spot on the list was Sunnyvale, California, which was found to be over 70 percent more affordable. Behind the city were other areas in the Sunbelt including Santa Monica, CA (67.8 percent), and Newport Beach, CA (66.5 percent). Boston, Massachusetts ranked fourth, being 64.2 percent more affordable compared with a traditional office. Other major metro markets including New York, NY, and Los Angeles were found to be 50.2 percent and 52 percent cheaper, respectively.

Some other Florida cities observed by CoworkingCafe also provided some major savings including Coral Gables (47.1 percent), Tampa (45.9 percent), Plantation (43.4 percent), Hollywood (43.1 percent), and Fort Lauderdale (35.9 percent). Those cities all ranked inside the top 50 most favorable places for coworking costs.

However, there are a few exceptions on the list where it was actually more expensive to pay for a coworking space. This includes Cincinnati, Ohio (4.5 percent), Memphis Tennessee (10.2 percent), and Oakland, CA (33.1 percent).

Also, office tenants leasing should keep in mind additional costs such as cleaning fees and furniture. On average, the cost of cleaning a 2,000 SF office is more than $12,000, according to CoworkingCafe.

“Conversely, coworking memberships include these costs, which makes dedicated-desk subscriptions a serious contender for traditional office leases in most large markets,” CoworkingCafe said.

But keep in mind that coworking spaces may not work for companies that demand a large amount of employees to regularly report to offices. For others, however, this just might be a way to satisfy a reduction to expenses, rather than just resorting to fully remote work.