Working from home more popular in Minn.

The number of people in the Twin Cities metro area who work primarily or exclusively at home is on the rise.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 5 percent of workers in the greater metro area did most or all of their jobs at home in 2010. That was up from just over 4 percent in 2005.

The percentage of people working at home has been steadily increasing in most markets, according to Peter Mateyka of the Census Bureau.

Areas with colleges and universities tend to have more people working at home, but many companies also like work-at-home arrangements.

"Allowing employees to work from home gives employers a competitive hiring advantage because working from home is appealing to employees," said Mateyka. "This is sometimes employed as a hiring strategy to attract the most appealing employees."

In the St. Cloud and Mankato areas, about 7.5 percent of workers usually did their jobs at home. Nationwide, the average was 4.3 percent.