To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Facilities Dive newsletter. Commercial building operations pumped almost $610 billion into the U.S. economy last year, much of that in gateway markets, according to a 2026 market study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder on behalf of Building Owners and Managers Association International. Operating expenditures — the management, maintenance and service costs that building operators expend annually — totaled $275 billion in 2025, the report says.
That spending led to another $195 billion in indirect spending — supply-chain related goods and services — and an additional $140 billion in induced spending. Induced spending includes the goods and services households buy using money they earn as a result of the direct and indirect commercial building spending. Some 2.4 million people are employed in commercial real estate, the report says.
"Every building relies on an extensive network of professionals, service providers and businesses to keep it running safely and efficiently, from building managers, contractors and suppliers to maintenance and repair companies, utilities, insurers and security providers," Kjersten Jaeb, BOMA's chair and chief elected officer, said in a statement. "This study shows just how significant that entire ecosystem is to the U.S. economy." Changes in how people work and shop are impacting the built environment, but commercial real estate remains one of the largest drivers of economic activity by metropolitan area, the report says. "These buildings are economic engines," it says.
The economic impact of the office, retail and industrial sectors on metro areas is larger than might be recognized because of the way building operations lead to spending in other sectors, the report says. "As building owners contract out building maintenance [the spending] supports other businesses that provide those maintenance and repair services, and those companies employ workers, pay salaries, provide benefits, lease space, and buy vehicles," the report says. "Furthermore, they source parts from manufacturers and wholesalers." The New York City metro area is the biggest commercial real estate market in the United States by economic impact.
Its office, retail and industrial properties accounted for $48 billion in economic output in 2025, reflecting $23.9 billion from direct spending on operations and $19 billion going into people's pockets as personal earnings. The city's commercial buildings supported 262,800 jobs, the report says. When input costs are factored out of the economic output, the sector contributed $30.2 billion to the state's GDP.
Across the country, the biggest commercial real estate impacts are in the gateway cities, the report shows: $29.6 billion generated in Los Angeles, $28.4 billion in Boston, $25.8 billion in Washington, D.C., and $23.7 billion in suburban Chicago, among other big metro areas. "These gateway markets reflect the concentration of office, retail, and industrial activity and vast square footage in major metropolitan areas," the report says. Commercial properties in mid-sized markets are big economic generators, too, the report says.
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