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How REITs add millions of jobs and billions of dollars to US economy

US-headquartered public listed equity REIT portfolios included over 575,000 properties.

With a total footprint of 3.4 million US jobs that generate $262.9 billion of labor income, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a vital part of their communities and the US economy at large.

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) was commissioned by Nareit to estimate the current economic contribution of REITs in the US.

The total economic contribution, or footprint, of REITs consists of the direct operations of REITs and related businesses in the United States, as well as the induced or indirect flows from dividend and interest payments by REITs and REIT property improvement and construction investments.

Total economic contribution of REITs in the United States, 2022

Billions of dollars; thousands of full-time equivalent employees

Direct

Indirect and induced

Total

Operations

Labor income

$27.3b

$78.0b

$105.3b

Employment

331

995

1,325

Dividend and interest payments

Labor income

$0.0

$29.4b

$29.4b

Employment

0

398

398

Construction

Labor income

$63.0b

$65.2b

$128.2b

Employment

874

836

1,710

Total

Labor income

$90.3b

$172.6b

$262.9b

Employment

1,204

2,229

3,434

Note: Includes public listed, public non-listed, and private REITs. Operations exclude the economic contribution of REIT dividend distributions and REIT interest payments. The above table does not include the economic contribution of the tenants of REIT-owned properties. Figures are rounded.

Source: EY analysis

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Employment

The total economic contribution of US REITs and related businesses in 2021 was an estimated 3.2 million full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

dollar

Labor income

REIT operations, dividend distributions and interest payments to investors, and construction activities contributed $262.9 billion in labor income to the US economy.

graph

Growth

REITs in the United States own $4 trillion of gross real estate assets. Publicly listed REITs have seen their combined equity market capitalization grow from the end of 1990 at an approximately 16.8% compound annual rate, from $9 billion to almost $1.27 trillion at the end of 2022.

properties

Properties

US-headquartered public listed equity REIT portfolios included over 575,000 properties at year-end 2022, including:

  • Nearly 2,300 office buildings
  • More than 200 regional malls; over 2,600 shopping centers; more than 1,500 restaurant locations; and nearly 28,000 other retail properties
  • More than 8,500 industrial facilities
  • Over 3,100 multifamily rental properties, with over 800,000 units
  • Nearly 1,700 hotels
  • Approximately 8,000 medical facilities comprising nearly 2,500 medical office buildings, nearly 2,100 assisted living facilities, over 1,000 skilled nursing facilities and over 2,400 other health care facilities
  • Nearly 7,500 self-storage facilities
  • More than 200 data centers
  • Nearly 100,000 telecommunications towers
  • Approximately 200,000 single-family-home rental properties
  • More than 205,000 billboards and outdoor advertising units
  • Approximately 15 million acres of timberland
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Note: Includes public listed, public non-listed, and private REITs. The above table does not include the economic contribution of the tenants of REIT-owned properties. The economic contribution of REITs is generally distributed to states (and the District of Columbia) based on REIT gross asset value by property type except for the contribution of REIT dividend payments, which is distributed based on the distribution of overall non-qualified dividend income as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. Figures are rounded.

Sources: Nareit and EY analysis.


Summary 

With a total footprint of 3.4 million US jobs that generate $262.9 billion of labor income, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a vital part of their communities and the US economy at large.

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