Do remote workers deter neighborhood crime? Evidence from the rise of working from home

We examine the impact of the working from home (WFH) shift on neighborhood-level burglary rates, employing detailed street-level crime data and a neighborhood WFH measure. We find a one standard deviation increase in WFH (9.5pp) leads to a persistent 4% drop in burglaries. A spatial search model identifies two deterrence channels: occupancy, as burglars avoid occupied houses, and “eyes on the street”. We provide evidence supporting both channels. Despite crime displacement to low WFH areas offseting 30% of the burglary eduction, a hedonic pricing model reveals significant willingness to pay for high WFH areas, especially those with high ex-ante burglary risk.