Crowding may be an issue for the remaining housing units; 6.6 percent, or 218,863 housing units, have between 1.01 and 1.50 individuals per room, and the remaining 4.7 percent, or 157,049 units, have 1.51 persons per room or more. This reveals some crowding in Los Angeles County housing units, but it is not severe.
Figure 20: Learning whether crowding is an issue in Los Angeles County housing units.
Finally, we investigate whether Los Angeles County residents are rent-burdened. This means that they spend more than thirty percent of their household income on rent, making it difficult for these households to cover other expenses and build savings. ACS data tells us, as shown in Figure 21, that in Los Angeles County, of all 1,711,020 occupied housing units where residents pay rent, 9.5 percent of these units are occupied by individuals who are spending 30 percent to 34.9 percent of their household income on housing. Alarmingly, occupants in 48.1 percent of these housing units pay thirty-five percent or more of their household income on rent. This means that a large share of Los Angeles County residents — a combined 57.6 percent — spend over thirty percent of their income on rent. These individuals may be at high risk of eviction if their income drops significantly, as has been the case during the pandemic.
Figure 21: Learning about rent burden in Los Angeles County.
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