Many of our friends who run businesses always ask us, “How much Office Space Do I Need”?

Chuck it to the fact that we’re a commercial real estate listing service and our in-depth expertise of the commercial office space world.

The answer may seem simple, but often times is not.

The short answer to how much office space you need is that it depends on the number of employees you have, and the floor plan build-out your business is going to need. When you hear the word, “build-out”, it means things like private offices, copier rooms, cubicle areas, reception, break rooms, etc.

In this post we will be showing you how to quickly calculate a rough ballpark of how much office space you need in less than 30 seconds using the number of employees. We’ll also be showing you how to get a more accurate gauge on how much office space you need using our free handy office space calculator excel spreadsheet.

When looking for office space, you could do a rough ballpark of how much space you need by using the number of employees you will be housing in the space.

Using Number of Employees to Calculate How Much Office Space Do I Need

A good rule of thumb (but not perfect) is to use the employee count ballpark for square feet you are going to need in an office space.

You will need roughly 1,000 square feet for every six (6) employees you have.

So let’s say you have 12 employees, well then you’re going to need 2,000 square feet.

Just take the total number of employees, divide them by 6 and then multiple them by 1,000. That will provide you with the answer to “how much office space do I need”.

This calculation is not always perfect, because the square footage of the space will be bigger if you need multiple private offices, conference, break rooms, and other build-out items for your business.

Using Spreadsheet Calculator to Calculate How Much Office Space Do I Need

A more accurate way to calculate how much office space you’ll need is to use the downloadable spreadsheet below to calculate the amount.

DOWNLOAD OFFICE SPACE CALCULATOR SPREADSHEET HERE

This office space calculator excel spreadsheet shows you different sizes of offices, open areas, cubicles, meeting rooms, reception areas, kitchens, break rooms, etc. You can select the quantity of each that you want and it will spit out how many square feet of office space you need more accurately.

Do you have any other tricks to calculate the size of office space someone will need? Let’s discuss in the comments section below! 🙂