Do Americans now spend more time sitting? Which occupations worse?

I never rest. You rest you die.

Americans are spending more of the workday sitting — the jobs driving the trend often come with more money

Sherwood News

Feb 11, 2026

Standing desks may have become a workplace staple, but Americans are spending more time seated at their jobs than at any point in nearly a decade, according to new federal labor data. That might be a good thing for their personal finances.

Indeed, while it may not please many health experts, the share of the working day that the average US worker spends standing has been shrinking over the past decade, from 61% in 2016 to 55% in 2025.

Among the most sedentary professionals are software developers, who spent 97% of the workday sitting last year, with investment analysts (96.4%), accountants (96.2%), and lawyers (86.4%) also spending most of their day in a chair. At the other end of the spectrum were food prep and service workers, including fast food cooks and bartenders, who spent over 98% of their shifts on their feet. Construction roles like carpenters and electricians weren’t far behind.

Interestingly, how much time you spend seated often lines up with how much you earn, according to the latest wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Workers in management spent nearly three-quarters of the workday seated, with the highest-grossing occupation earning $171,200 on average in 2024. Other desk-bound roles in legal, computer, and financial fields also pulled in six-figure salaries. Meanwhile, workers in food service, personal care, transportation, and maintenance — jobs that require standing most of the day — typically earned around $41,000 or less per year.

The pattern isn’t universal, though. Office and administrative support workers, along with bus drivers and chauffeurs, naturally spent a majority of their workday seated and still earned below the national average of $49,500. Pharmacists, by contrast, earned ~$137,000 a year while spending just 28% of their day sitting.