Austin has fourth-highest office vacancy rate in nation

The Austin metro area has the fourth highest rate of office vacancies in the nation, according to a new report, with 16.7 percent of the city’s office space empty.

Austin's empty office space totals almost 22.54 million square feet, and the vacancy rate has increased 12 percent since 2023, according to the Outsource2India report.

The company tracked office rent prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas for 2023 and 2024 to rank the top 10 metro areas with the highest office vacancy rates using data from the National Association of Realtors.

Texas and California cities dominate the list, which has San Francisco at the top with 21.7 percent of office space vacant. Houston’s vacancy rate of 18.6 percent puts it in second, and Dallas is third with an 18 percent office vacancy rate.

Austin was fourth on the list, followed in descending order by Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Denver; Phoenix; Los Angeles; and San Jose, California.