Where Was The Office Filmed? Every Major Location, Explained

Part of what made the original British version of "The Office" and the early seasons of its American counterpart so engaging was that they both felt so tactile and believable. Sure, the later seasons of the U.S. version of "The Office" weren't its best, but initially, the characters and their interactions felt real, the drudgery of their office work felt real, and that very office itself felt real. No doubt helped by the well-executed mockumentary format and use of mostly unknown actors, this element of realism was part of what made the show as enduringly beloved as it became — everybody, at one time, had a boss like Michael Scott, and everybody had endured the beige, fluorescent hellscape that was the modern office.

It's a testament to the production team's talents on the U.S. "Office" (which Ricky Gervais wasn't involved with) that most of the series was shot on a set. The Dunder Mifflin office itself was actually fabricated on a Los Angeles soundstage, yet felt just as real as any other office space we'd ever seen. It helped that numerous other locations in the series were actual places, but once again, the production team managed to deceive us all in the best way possible, making various L.A. locales look like they could very much exist in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the show itself was set.

It's worth taking a look at where "The Office" was shot, not only to marvel at the way the show managed to make sunny L.A. look and feel like northeast Pennsylvania, but how the show managed to construct a whole world of its own that felt consistently realistic.

By now, even casual fans of "The Office" should know that the show itself wasn't filmed on location in Scranton. Instead, it was mostly shot in and around Los Angeles, but that doesn't mean it didn't feature any original Scranton locations. The opening sequence features actual footage of various landmarks from the northeastern Pennsylvania town. This includes the Penn Paper and Supply building, which is the very first shot seen in the opening credits; the Scranton Center; and the "Scranton Welcomes You" sign, which used to sit along the Central Scranton Expressway but was blown over and is now displayed in the town's mall.

The shots of Scranton were actually filmed by Jim actor John Krasinski (who later reunited with Steve Carrell for 2024's "IF.") After landing the role of Jim, Krasinski visited the town ahead of filming with friends and decided to get some footage, which ultimately wound up in the opening titles. During an appearance on the "Off the Beat with Brian Baumgartner" podcast, hosted by Krasinski's former co-star (who played Kevin on the show), Krasinski said, "That shot of the Scranton sign is us driving [past it] at the full speed limit. I just sort of popped out of the sunroof and was like, 'Oh, wait wait wait' and he didn't really know so I [filmed] it as we drove by." According to Krasinski, showrunner Greg Daniels offered him $1,000 to use the footage in the opening titles, and he agreed — though he maintains he should have held out for more.

Throughout its nine seasons, "The Office" maintained its mockumentary format, making the documentary style feel remarkably natural despite the fact that the main set for the Dunder Mifflin office was shot on a soundstage. However, the very first season of the show actually used a real office location.

As an article about the creation of "The Office" from Architectural Digest notes, back in 2005, ahead of the show's debut, the cast were gathered in an office space in Culver City, California where they performed a read-through of the pilot. At the end, when network executives asked about the set, they were told they were sitting in it.

For the entire first season of the show, this Culver City office played host to the series, with set decorator Steve Rostine decking out the real-life location with artwork and old desks and credenzas taken from a bank. It was only after the first season ended that showrunner Greg Daniels moved production to an actual set. On an episode of the "Office Ladies" podcast, co-host and Angela actress Angela Kinsey spoke about filming in a real office building for that first season, saying:

"A lot of times on sets, they actually build the office so if they wanna film and get a certain camera angle, they can move a wall. They can move a window. They can move a door [...] On our show, because it was in an actual office building, you just had to work with it. And it sort of really lended itself to the documentary style that all the shots weren't going to look pretty."

After the first season of the show, production moved to an actual studio where the Culver City office set was recreated on a soundstage. This new location wasn't the most glamorous upgrade for the series, however. Chandler Valley Center Studios in Van Nuys became the new home for "The Office," where the crew rebuilt the Dunder Mifflin interior from scratch. As Matt Flynn, art director and production designer, told Architectural Digest, "[Greg Daniels] didn't want the show to be shot on a studio lot with a bunch of other sitcoms. He didn't want that sitcom feel to rub off on 'The Office.'"

Daniels certainly achieved that with Chandler Valley Studios, a building that actually looks like a mundane office block rather than a Hollywood studio. That's likely why the production team were so comfortable using the location for exterior shots, too: The facade, front doors, and parking lot of Chandler Valley were all used to represent the exterior of the Dunder Mifflin office building throughout the show's run, and were famously immortalized in Pam's Dunder Mifflin watercolor painting. In 2024, however, the site was taken over by studio and equipment rental company Quixote, who gave the property a makeover and rebranded the business as Central Valley Studios.

Despite their San Fernando Valley setting, the crew did everything they could to make Dunder Mifflin feel like a real Scranton location. Prop master Phil Shea actually visited the Scranton Chamber of Commerce and managed to secure a slew of props from local businesses, including the Froggy 101 Radio stickers that can be seen adorning various desks in the show, as well as Michael's neon beer sign. That commitment to realism remained with the show throughout its run, as evidenced by the fact that Michael Scott really did drive a car into a real lake in "The Office" season 4.

First seen in the season 3 episode "Initiation," Schrute Farms is home to Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and his cousin, Mose (Michael Schur), who not only grow and sell beets but run a bed and breakfast from the farmhouse. That farmhouse is introduced in the season 4 episode "Money," wherein Jim and Pam visit the B&B for a romantic weekend away together and end up staying in the irrigation-themed room. The farm also hosted Dwight and Angela's (Angela Kinsey's) wedding in the final season of the show, which happened to be the storyline that convinced Steve Carrell to return to "The Office."

As revealed on Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey's "Office Ladies" podcast, the farm was mostly shot on the Golden Oak Ranch, or Disney Ranch, in Santa Clarita, California. 17 miles from the main "Office" set in Van Nuys, the ranch has hosted numerous high-profile productions from the "Westworld" series to "The Dukes of Hazard" and "Little House on the Prairie." Explaining how production made full use of Golden Oak on the "Office Ladies" podcast, Kinsey said:

"This is a vast property and they have different areas where they film. So they have the barn right where you saw 'The Initiation' and then they have little houses and different areas that you can use to create sort of this rustic look for TV and film."

The Schrute house itself is actually "Olivia's House," an empty farmhouse on the property, while the barn was shot at the Rag Wing Barn and Pee Wee's Barn sets on the ranch. The only major area of Schrute farms that wasn't shot at Golden Oak were the beet fields, which appear in "Initiation" and were filmed at Underwood family farm in Moorpark, about 35 miles from the Disney ranch.

Whenever the Dunder Mifflin staff needed a place to socialize after work, chances are they went to Poor Richard's Pub. It was the place where Devon went after being fired in season 2 episode "Halloween," it hosted a St. Patrick's Day party in season 6's "St. Patrick's Day," and it was the place where the entire cast watched the final documentary in the penultimate episode of the series, "A.A.R.M." Throughout the show's nine-season run, Poor Richard's was a constant presence.

The bar itself is a real location in Scranton, where it sits inside the South Side Bowl bowling alley. For the show, however, it was depicted as a standalone location, with Pickwick's Pub in Woodland Hills, California standing in for the real Poor Richard's. The bar is a family-run English pub that has been operating since 1974, though it had to be rebuilt from scratch in 2005 after a bad fire. The bar is still there today and actually hosted the "Office" cast as recently as 2024, when they held a charity event.

Ordinarily, Michael Scott's condo wouldn't necessarily be the most memorable aspect of a show like this, but the home has been the location of several standout scenes and some of the funniest moments on "The Office." The condo was first introduced in season 2 episode "Office Olympics," wherein Dwight accompanies Michael to finalize his purchase of the property, before Michael tries to back out of the sale after having misunderstood the terms of his mortgage. In the end, of course, Michael went ahead with the sale and the home became a recurring location for the series, instantly becoming famous for providing the setting for legendary season 4 episode, "Dinner Party." Later, it briefly became the headquarters for the Michael Scott Paper Company.

The house itself is a real home in Reseda, California, which is roughly eight miles from the Chandler Valley Studios base where the main "Office" scenes were filmed. This location was used for both exteriors and interiors, and as such, provided the location for all the scenes in the infamous "Dinner Party" episode. At the time of filming that particular installment, the house was inhabited by someone. In the "Office Ladies" podcast episode for "Dinner Party," hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey recalled how the crew had to take all of the owner's property out of the house and repaint the walls in order to shoot there, before putting everything back the way they'd found it.

"The Office" is currently streaming on Peacock.