New Jerseyans are the biggest homebodies in the U.S.

It is not just COVID that led people to stay home more. As the cost of living rises and incomes decline amid work staff realignment and the convenience of working from home, Americans are spending more time at home.

With the availability of groceries, meals, and any product you need or desire at the reach of your computer mouse or phone with a delivery to your front step, staying at home has become an increasing trend.

In analyzing national data from statistics provided by the University of Minnesota’s Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, along with the American Time Use Survey, Rove Lab had interesting findings when it comes to how much New Jerseyans stay home. The results of the findings were published in an article on app.com.

Key factors were looking at states with the most remote workers and looking at reports of how much time people spent at home in their personal lives and then combining those results into a composite score.

How many New Jerseyans are homebodies

Based on that criteria, New Jersey is No. 1 for homebodies in the U.S.

The findings show that New Jersey residents spend 79.5% of their day at home, which works out to 1,145 minutes. A substantial portion of that time comes from a surprising 11.2% of residents who work strictly from home. The study found that 15.9% of Garden State residents worked some hours from home. In 2024, more than a quarter of all New Jersey residents worked from home either partially or full-time. That comes out to 27.1% of all residents. Those numbers paved the way for New Jersey to be at the top of the list.

We have seen the closure of restaurant chains, major shopping outlets, critical downsizing in staff and office space. The increase in the cost and hassle of air travel, hotels, amusement parks, restaurants, and entertainment is cost-prohibitive for many. Staying home is a more cost-efficient way of managing your life. In New Jersey, there is no place like home.