What is cost per seat?

How it works

Cost per seat puts the whole cost of occupying space into one unit a finance team recognizes. The numerator is the annual occupancy cost: rent, service charges, property taxes, fit-out and furniture amortized over their life, utilities, cleaning, security and maintenance. The denominator is the number of seats the space provides.

The more revealing variant divides by seats actually used. Cost per occupied seat uses average or peak-day occupancy from check-in or presence data, and in a hybrid office it is usually far higher than cost per seat. The gap between the two is the cost of space that is paid for but idle.

Teams use the metric to compare buildings in a portfolio, to test whether desk sharing or consolidation would pay off, and to set internal chargebacks. It is only comparable when every building uses the same cost lines and the same definition of a seat.

Formula

Cost per seat = Annual occupancy cost ÷ Seats

Annual occupancy cost: Rent, service charges, property taxes, amortized fit-out and furniture, utilities, cleaning, security and maintenance for one year.
Seats: Workstations provided. For cost per occupied seat, use the average number of seats in use per day from check-in or presence data instead.

Worked example · illustrative figures

An office costs $2,400,000 a year to occupy and provides 400 seats.
Cost per seat: $2,400,000 ÷ 400 = $6,000.
Check-in data shows 160 seats in use on an average day: $2,400,000 ÷ 160 = $15,000.

$6,000 per seat provided, and $15,000 per seat actually used on an average day.

How to measure it

Agree the cost lines with finance and apply them the same way to every building.
Count seats from the current floor plan, excluding closed or out-of-service desks.
Calculate cost per occupied seat from check-ins or presence data, for both the average day and the peak day.
Recalculate after every change to space or attendance policy.

Common mistakes

Leaving out fit-out amortization or operating costs, which understates the true cost of each seat.
Using bookings as the measure of use; booked but empty desks make the occupied-seat figure look better than it is.
Comparing buildings that count seats differently, such as including touchdown points in one and not the other.
Cutting seats to lower the cost without checking the peak day, which shifts the cost into lost time and frustration.

How Kadence helps

Kadence does not hold lease or cost data, but it supplies the seat side of the calculation. Workplace Insights reports occupancy, attendance and no-shows from check-ins and presence signals rather than bookings alone, and data export takes those figures into a finance model. SpaceOps scenario planning then compares options, such as consolidating floors, against real demand.

Workplace analytics · Scenario planning

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cost per seat and cost per occupied seat?

Cost per seat divides occupancy cost by every seat provided. Cost per occupied seat divides it by the seats actually used, taken from check-in or presence data. In a hybrid office the second figure is usually much higher, and the difference shows the cost of idle space.

What costs are included in cost per seat?

Typically rent, service charges, property taxes, fit-out and furniture amortized over their useful life, utilities, cleaning, security and maintenance. Some organizations add workplace technology and facilities staff. Whatever the list, apply it the same way to every building.

How do you reduce cost per occupied seat?

Lower the cost or raise the use. Consolidating onto fewer floors, subletting or renegotiating at a lease event lowers cost. Desk sharing, team coordination and releasing unused bookings raise the number of seats in use each day.

Is cost per seat the same as cost per employee?

No. Cost per employee divides occupancy cost by headcount, and cost per seat divides it by workstations. In an office with shared desks there are fewer seats than employees, so the two figures differ. Report the one that matches the decision and say which one you used.

Space utilization How intensively buildings, floors, rooms and desks are used against their full capacity over time.
Total occupancy cost Everything an organization spends to occupy a workplace in a year: rent, operating costs, utilities, services and fit-out.
Business case for consolidation The financial case for moving into less space, with cash savings, one-off costs and softer benefits kept separate.
Desk ratio (desk sharing ratio) The number of people assigned to a workplace for each desk, set from peak attendance and policy.
Space per person Office floor area divided by the number of people it serves, in square feet or square meters per person.

Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed September 30, 2026