The short version
Office projects are decisions about space, work and useful life.
These figures give context, not a substitute for an on-site plan. A viable layout still depends on the room, the people using it, building requirements and the work that happens there.
Commercial space
The building stock behind workplace decisions
5.918 million
U.S. commercial buildings
The U.S. Energy Information Administration counted 5.918 million commercial buildings in its 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.
EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B10 ↗2018 data, released 2021 and revised 202296.423 billion
square feet of commercial floorspace
Those commercial buildings contained 96.423 billion square feet of floorspace, a reminder that furniture decisions scale from a single suite to a sizeable national building stock.
EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B10 ↗2018 data, released 2021 and revised 202216.662 billion
square feet in office buildings
Office buildings accounted for 16.662 billion square feet of U.S. commercial floorspace in the same EIA survey.
EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B5 ↗2018 data, released 2021 and revised 202285.796 million
workers in surveyed commercial buildings
The survey estimated 85.796 million workers across U.S. commercial buildings. This is a building-stock measure, not a workplace capacity guideline for any individual office.
EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B1 ↗2018 data, released 2021 and revised 2022Office furniture
A specialised market, plus a wider planning profession
189
employer establishments in nonwood office furniture manufacturing
The Census Bureau profile for NAICS 337214 lists 189 U.S. employer establishments in Office Furniture (except Wood) Manufacturing.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns ↗2023 data97,100
interior designer jobs in the United States
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists 97,100 interior designer jobs in 2025 and projects 3% employment growth from 2025 to 2035. Workplace planning often draws on this broader design expertise alongside furniture, construction and facilities teams.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook ↗2025 employment, August 2026 updateReuse & disposal
Why useful furniture deserves a second look
12.08 million
tons of furniture and furnishings entered the waste stream
EPA estimates that furniture and furnishings generated 12.08 million tons of municipal solid waste in the U.S. in 2018. The category is broader than office furniture, but it is a useful context for reuse and responsible disposition conversations.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data ↗2018 data80.1%
of furniture and furnishings was landfilled
EPA reports that 80.1% of furniture and furnishings was landfilled in 2018, while 19.5% was combusted with energy recovery. The agency reported 40,000 tons recycled in that category.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data ↗2018 dataEPA reports on furniture and furnishings as a whole. It does not isolate office furniture, so these figures should be used as national context rather than a measure of any one office project.
Sources & methodology
How to use this page
This page compiles publicly available U.S. figures from the original reporting organisations. Each statistic is linked directly to its source and dated where the source provides a reporting period. Figures are retained as reported, without converting them into planning rules or projections.
- EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B102018 data, released 2021 and revised 2022
- EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B52018 data, released 2021 and revised 2022
- EIA, 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, Table B12018 data, released 2021 and revised 2022
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns2023 data
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data2018 data
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook2025 employment, August 2026 update
Cite this page
Bizz Furniture. “U.S. Office Furniture & Workspace Planning Statistics.” Updated September 30, 2026. https://bizzfurn.com/office-furniture-statistics.
For a particular number, please link to both this page and the original source shown with that statistic.