A collage og photos featuring a photo of homeless tents and a for rent sign

Officials at Los Angeles’ City Hall may find the latest results from the LABarometer Livability & Affordability survey useful. (Composite: Letty Avila. Image source: iStock.)

Homelessness, high rents weigh heavily on Angelenos, USC Dornsife study finds

LABarometer survey on affordability and livability highlights how Los Angeles County residents prefer to solve homelessness and finds that 29% of residents who moved in the last year were forced to do so by rising rents, while 24% of all residents want to leave L.A.

ByIleana Wachtel October 24, 2024

More than 9 in 10 Los Angeles County residents say homelessness is a pressing issue, and 64% feel its impact in their neighborhoods, according to the most recent findings from the USC Dornsife annual LABarometer survey on livability and affordability in L.A.

Two-thirds of county residents see an unhoused person daily, while 1 in 5 knows someone who is unhoused. Additionally, nearly 10% (1 million) have experienced homelessness themselves at some point in their lives.

The survey also highlights the solutions Angelenos support to address homelessness and sheds light on how residents are coping with rising rents and financial pressures. Less than half feel satisfied with their current financial situation.

Conducted by the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the survey was done in collaboration with the USC Homelessness Policy Research Institute (HPRI), a joint venture of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.