Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
News

Breaking: People In LA Are Still Upset About How Expensive Housing Is

A for rent sign is posted on an apartment building on February 1, 2017 in Los Angeles (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

In recent news that surprises exactly no one, researchers have found that a lot of people in L.A. are less than thrilled about the cost of housing.

The discovery was the result of a survey conducted by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and The California Endowment, which polled 1,046 people via phone and online interviews. Researchers asked participants to rate their satisfaction with things like cost of housing, transportation, education and the environment.

Cost of housing ranked the lowest in quality of life satisfaction in Los Angeles, coming in at an indexed score of 42 out of a possible 100. The next lowest category was education, which respondents ranked 49.

Even less surprisingly, those respondents who reported the highest rate of dissatisfaction with the cost of housing are the same people who are not rich. Designated as "struggling," the group included those in the following categories:

  • under age 50,
  • household income of less than $60,000 a year,
  • renters
  • no college degree.

This dissatisfaction is a response to what Curbed LA reported last year as a median price of $1,370 to rent a one-bedroom in the city of L.A., and a median price of $1,694 to rent a one-bedroom across the entire county.

Dissatisfaction with the cost of housing - or the outright inability to afford it - is making some people in L.A. rethink where they live. Of the people who took the UCLA survey, 57% said that either they or someone they knew had considered moving because their neighborhood was getting too expensive. That number was up by 10% from 2017.

According to the study, respondents ranked their overall quality of life at 56, the same as last year. But their satisfaction with the cost of housing has dropped, from 50 in 2016, to this year's 42.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today