A new economic-impact study from BOMA International sizes Southern California’s building-operations economy, finding that Greater Los Angeles ranks among the nation’s largest markets while the Inland Empire’s vast warehouse base runs at the lowest cost per foot in the region.
Keeping Southern California’s office towers, shopping centers and warehouses running is a $53.6 billion economic engine that supports more than a third of a million jobs, according to a new national study measuring what it costs simply to operate the region’s commercial buildings. Across Greater Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, San Diego and Orange County, day-to-day building operations generated $53.6 billion in economic output in 2025 and supported roughly 334,100 jobs, the BOMA 2026 Market Study: The Economic Impact of U.S. Commercial Real Estate found.
The study, released by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and conducted by the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, measured the ongoing cost of operating office, retail and industrial buildings across 79 U.S. markets. It counted not construction or property sales but the day-to-day spending on management, maintenance, utilities, security, insurance and administration that keeps buildings functioning regardless of the sales market.
Greater Los Angeles dominates the regional picture and ranks among the largest commercial markets in the country. Its 1.27 billion square feet of space generated $13.54 billion in annual operating expenditures, driving $29.64 billion in output — contributing $17 billion to state gross domestic product — and supporting 182,700 jobs, according to the study.
The Inland Empire tells a different story, one written in warehouses. The region holds 856.2 million square feet of commercial space, second only to Los Angeles in the region, yet its operating spending runs just $4.49 per square foot — the lowest of any Southern California market and barely half the national average of $7.78 — a reflection of the low-cost, high-volume logistics real estate that dominates its inventory. Even at that rate, operating the space generated $8.38 billion in output and 55,300 jobs.
San Diego and Orange County round out the region. San Diego’s 315.2 million square feet generated $7.82 billion in output and 49,300 jobs at roughly $11.18 per square foot, the highest operating cost in the region, while Orange County’s 403.3 million square feet produced $7.71 billion and 46,800 jobs at about $8.73 per square foot.
The four markets feed the nation’s largest state-level impact. BOMA’s eight California markets together support 537,500 jobs and contribute roughly $51 billion to gross domestic product, according to the study, a reflection of the state’s more than 4.1 billion square feet of commercial space.
The report frames building operations as a ripple that spreads well beyond the property line. Nationally, $274.9 billion in building operating expenditures generated $609.9 billion in total output, meaning every dollar spent running a building produced $2.22 in economic activity as it moved through suppliers, contractors and worker paychecks, the study found. Those operations contributed $344.4 billion to U.S. GDP, generated $219.4 billion in personal earnings and supported 3.9 million jobs across the country.
“Commercial buildings are economic engines, supporting businesses, jobs and communities across the country,” said Kjersten Jaeb, chair and chief elected officer of BOMA International, in a statement accompanying the study. She noted that every building depends on an extensive network of managers, contractors, suppliers, utilities, insurers and security providers to keep it running safely and efficiently — an ecosystem the report attempts to size.
The study also tracked construction trends. Industrial construction — the backbone of the Inland Empire economy — totaled about $274.2 billion nationally in 2025, down 7.9 percent from 2024 but still more than double its 2020 level and the third-highest annual total on record, according to the report. On the office side, data centers accounted for roughly $41.2 billion, or nearly 46 percent, of the more than $90 billion in private office construction, up from less than 5 percent a decade earlier.
Mary Lue Peck, president and chief operating officer of BOMA International, framed the impact as durable. “The economic impact of commercial real estate is not a one-time event,” she said. “Ongoing investments in the operation, maintenance and improvement of our buildings generate economic activity that supports businesses, jobs and wages across the country creating an impact that lasts well into the future.”
The analysis drew on 2025 square-footage estimates from CoStar and operating-expense data from the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries, running them through the 528-sector IMPLAN input-output model to estimate direct, indirect and induced impacts. Conducted every three to four years, the study offers a recurring benchmark — and, for a region whose fortunes are often tied to logistics demand and entertainment-sector office space, a reminder that the everyday work of operating its buildings remains one of Southern California’s largest economic constants.
