Charlotte is no longer the No. 1 city for growth of office jobs. What’s going on?

For 15 straight months, Charlotte topped a list measuring office job growth in the nation’s leading 25 office markets. In June, the city fell to third place.

According to monthly reports from Yardi Matrix, a real estate research firm in Santa Barbara, California, Charlotte now sits behind Austin, Texas, and New York City. The list measures job growth and loss in sectors of the labor market that use offices.

Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, said Charlotte remains a leader in office-using employment growth.

“But Austin and New York have recently outpaced them, and that’s due to stronger growth in the sectors that Yardi Matrix classifies as office-using employment, like financial activities, information activities, professional and business services,” Ressler said.

Starting with October 2024 data, Charlotte rose to the top spot. April 2025 data showed that the city had a 3.2% increase in office employment compared to the same month the year before.

“Charlotte has been a hot spot for corporate relocations in recent years, leading to office job growth at a time when many other markets are experiencing declines,” that report stated.

The findings that were published in May showed Austin taking the top spot over Charlotte, and the June report found Charlotte behind both Austin and New York City.

“Charlotte’s overall job growth is strong, but it’s broad-based,” Ressler said. He said New York City and Austin have focused more on office-using employment for industries like artificial intelligence and technology.

Is a hiring wave for office jobs in Charlotte’s future?

Chuck McShane, senior director of market analytics at CoStar real estate information provider, said he saw 1.4% year-over-year job growth in Charlotte in May.

“So, yeah, it’s a little bit slower, a little bit cooler on the office side, but not significantly so,” McShane said. “Where we are seeing more of a slowdown is in the consumer spending-oriented jobs.” For instance, hotel and restaurant job growth has leveled off in the area, he added.

As companies continue to announce headquarters opening in Charlotte, McShane said he believes a hiring wave will start. The office vacancy rate in Charlotte was about 24% in the first quarter of this year, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.

“I think one question for the Charlotte office market in particular is, do we have enough new space to attract more companies?” McShane said.