Chicago tied as the 10th most expensive coworking market in the country, according to the latest research from CoWorking Cafe.
According to CoWorking Cafe’s 2026 Coworking Price Report the national median monthly coworking membership stood at $190. The report released in early September analyzes coworking memberships, day passes, meeting rooms and virtual offices across U.S. metropolitan areas.
CoWorking Cafe reported that virtual offices in Chicago cost users $199 a month, tied for the 10th most expensive metropolitan area in the country. A total of 133 coworking spaces offer this service in the Chicago area.
Meeting rooms in Chicago cost $50 an hour, also tied for the 10th most expensive rate in the country, with 90 total coworking spaces offering this service.
Memberships in Chicago stood at $199 a month, with 174 total coworking spaces offering this type of subscription, the second-largest count in our ranking.
Day passes in Chicago were $33, with 94 total coworking spaces offering this option.
The report is based on CoworkingCafe listing data and measures median starting prices. CoworkingCafe analyzed markets with at least five separate listings in each category, producing data for 119 metros for memberships, 92 for virtual offices, 83 for meeting rooms and 82 for day passes.
Earlier 2026 CoworkingCafe research found 336 coworking locations in the Chicago market during the first quarter of this year, up 2% from the previous quarter. Chicago also ranked second nationally in total coworking space, with about 9.13 million square feet. The average Chicago coworking location measured 27,185 square feet, substantially larger than the national average of 17,945 square feet.
The national numbers show just how wide the pricing gap for coworking space memberships can be. Coworking memberships ranged from a median of $129 a month in five of the least-expensive markets to $340 in Anchorage, Alaska. New York City, at $250 a month, was the most expensive major gateway market included in the report.
For companies trying to decide between a traditional monthly membership and occasional drop-in use, CoworkingCafe’s national analysis offers another useful benchmark. Across the 66 metros where the company could compare monthly membership and day-pass pricing, a membership generally costs about the same as 6.5 day passes. That means workers using coworking space more than roughly a day and a half per week generally reach the financial break-even point for a membership.
Day passes have become an increasingly important part of the flexible-office equation, particularly as companies settle into hybrid work arrangements. CoworkingCafe found a national median day-pass price of $31, with prices ranging from $20 to $50.
Meeting rooms represent another cost for companies that maintain a hybrid workforce. The national median was $45 an hour, with rates ranging from $25 to $80. Virtual offices, meanwhile, carried a national median of $179 a month and showed the widest pricing spread of the four categories, ranging from $50 to $225.
CoworkingCafe also modeled the costs for teams of five, 10 and 25 employees. Its hybrid scenario assumed that 80% of workers received memberships while the remaining 20% used four day passes per month.
That approach generally lowered costs. In 65 of the 66 metros analyzed, the hybrid arrangement was less expensive than purchasing memberships for every worker, producing savings of about $188 per person annually, or roughly $16 a month.
