The green impact of Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana’s remote work growth

A new study has revealed the results of Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana’s results with regard to impacting the environment by having more workers do their work from home. Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana are seeing some of the greatest environmental improvements among the mid-sized U.S. cities, partly due to the more than doubling of their remote workforce since 2019.

Click here to see the U.S. cities where the growth of the work-from-home trend has the highest impact on the environment.

This analysis was conducted by Coworking Mag*, the sister website of CoworkingCafe and part of the Yardi Network. They analyzed data from Census Bureau, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to examine WFH at the city level, as well as simultaneous events — such as the reduction of carbon footprints, lowering of electricity consumption per capita and encouragement of sustainable choices.

Main improvements of Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana’s environment compared to the other mid-sized U.S. cities following the WFH growth since 2019:

• Irvine records the 3^rd highest positive impact on environment, with Santa Ana being 6^th and Anaheim being 9^th.  This is partly owed to the increase of remote work in Irvine (175%), Santa Ana (158%) and Anaheim (129%); 

• The three Orange County cities have the 4^th sharpest decreases in carbon footprint, the footprint going down by 8% in these areas; 

• Also, the cities boast the 5^th steepest reduction in gas consumption, decreasing by almost 6%; 

• Irvine has the 7^th swiftest decrease in commute times, the required interval to get to work shrinking by 5% (-2% in Anaheim and Santa Ana); 

• Anaheim, Irvine and Santa Ana have recorded the 8^th highest cut in electricity consumption per capita, decreasing by almost 1%.

Besides these Orange County cities, they also have data for 12 other Californian cities that ranked in their study: San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, Chula Vista, Long Beach, El Cajon, Simi Valley, Fremont and Burbank.

Nationally, most of the cities analyzed show improvements in the overall environment while registering an increase in WFH jobs. The large cities where the work-from-home evolution have had the highest positive impact on the environment are Baltimore, MD, Washington, D.C., and San Jose, CA. In the mid-size category, Newark, NJ, Oakland, CA, and Irvine, CA, occupy the first three spots. Finally, the small cities category is led by Columbia, MD, Quincy, MA, and Simi Valley, CA.

For the full study and methodology click here.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

See Full Bio