01 The state of play
LA housing, in nine numbers.
These figures describe the core tension driving every housing decision in Los Angeles — where rents rise faster than wages, supply lags demand, and subsidy access is rationed by time.
Rent Burden
57%
of LA renter households pay >30% of income on rent
↑ 3.2 pts since 2019
Severe Burden
30%
pay >50% of income — roughly 500,000 households
↑ 1.8 pts since 2019
Unit Shortage
578K
affordable units short of what LA County households need
↑ widening
Median Rent
$2,850
for a 1BR in LA — 38% above US median
↑ 4.1% YoY
Vacancy Rate
5.3%
up from 4.1% in 2023 — softening
↑ 1.2 pts
HCV Holders
84K
active Housing Choice Vouchers countywide
steady
Evictions Filed
48K
filings in LA County over past 12 months
↑ 22% YoY
Avg. Wait Time
2–8yrs
for Section 8 vouchers after waitlist opens
most closed
02 Market overview
Where supply meets reality.
Rent burden is the truest indicator of housing stress. It cuts across incomes, neighborhoods, and household types — and it's the leading predictor of downstream instability: eviction, displacement, and homelessness.
Rent burden by income level
% of households paying >30% of income on rent · 2026
Rent burden by region
LA County · darker = higher % burdened
<50%
50–65%
>65%
Rent has outpaced wages for a decade
Indexed to 2015 = 100 · LA County
For every affordable unit in LA, there are nearly three households who need one.
The supply gap, by AMI tier
Units needed vs. affordable units available · LA County
Deepest shortage is at the bottom of the income ladder. Above 80% AMI, the market begins to clear.
03 Rental Assistance
How rent actually gets paid.
When an LA tenant can't afford the full rent, the gap is often closed by federal, state, or local subsidy. Understanding the program landscape is the difference between a deal that pencils and one that doesn't.
HCV · Section 8
Housing Choice Voucher
Long-term rental subsidy for extremely low- and very low-income households. Tenant-based; follows the renter.
SSVF
Supportive Services for Veteran Families
Rapid-rehousing and homelessness prevention for low-income veterans and their families.
ESG
Emergency Solutions Grants
Short-term rental assistance and crisis stabilization for households experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
HOPWA
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS
Long-term housing assistance for low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families.
TBRA
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
Locally administered rental subsidy for low-income households, often via HOME funds.
TANF
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Cash aid that indirectly supports rent for low-income families with children.
How rent gets paid · three common scenarios
Each bar shows a $2,400/month rent — stacked by source. For landlords, a subsidized tenant often means a more reliable rent stream, not a riskier one.
Scenario A · Market Tenant
$2,400
Tenant income$2,400
Subsidy—
Total rent$2,400
Scenario B · Voucher Holder
$2,400
Tenant (30% of income)$600
HCV subsidy (HACLA)$1,800
Total rent$2,400
Scenario C · Partial / Emergency
$2,400
Tenant income$1,200
ESG (short-term)$800
Unpaid / at risk$400
! Coverage Gap
The "Missing Middle" problem
Subsidies concentrate at the bottom of the income ladder. Market-rate housing clears only near the top. Workforce renters in the 60–80% AMI band — teachers, nurses, service workers — are too rich to qualify, too poor to afford.
<30% AMI
30–50%
50–60%
60–80%
80–100%
>120%
04 Eviction Data
When housing breaks down.
Eviction is both a symptom and a cause — downstream of rent burden, upstream of homelessness. Filings in LA County surged after the end of pandemic-era protections and remain elevated.
Eviction filings in LA County, 2018–2026
Monthly court filings · sheriff lockouts not shown
Top filing reasons
2026 YTD · LA County Superior Court
Avg. rent owed at filing
Arrears at time of filing · 2026
$4,820
roughly 1.7× median monthly rent
74% of cases involve < $10K owed — often resolvable with emergency aid.
Filing rate by area
Filings per 100 renter households · 2026
i Definitions
Eviction filing
A formal court petition by a landlord to remove a tenant, also called an Unlawful Detainer (UD) in California.
Filing rate
Eviction filings per 100 renter households. A rough measure of displacement pressure in an area.
Displacement
When a tenant must leave their unit — via eviction, rent hike, or owner action — and cannot return.
05 Waitlists & Access
The access bottleneck.
Even where subsidy exists, access is rationed by time. Most LA waitlists are closed. When they open, hundreds of thousands apply for thousands of slots — often via lottery.
~250,000
Applicants when HACLA Section 8 opened (2017)
~60,000
Selected via lottery to the waitlist
~20,000
Reached after 2+ years of waiting
~12,000
Issued a voucher
~8,500
Successfully leased a unit
The numbers behind the funnel
HACLA + LACDA Section 8 · historical
Lottery odds
1 in 4
make the waitlist
Leasing success
71%
of issued vouchers lease
Avg. wait
2–8 yrs
from waitlist to voucher
Open waitlists
< 10%
of LA County projects
Voucher waitlists
Public Housing Agencies in LA County
HACLA (City of LA)
Housing Choice Voucher
CLOSED
LACDA (LA County)
Housing Choice Voucher
CLOSED
Long Beach Housing Authority
HCV · Family
CLOSED
Pasadena Housing Authority
HCV · VASH
OPEN · VASH
Compton Housing Authority
HCV
CLOSED
Project-based waitlists
Typical LIHTC / affordable properties
Family housingtypical wait
Senior housingtypical wait
PSH (Permanent Supportive)typical wait
Workforce (80–120% AMI)typical wait
CES = Coordinated Entry System. Used for homeless-dedicated housing referrals countywide.
06 Interactive Tools
Run your numbers.
Three calculators for three audiences. Each uses current HUD AMI figures for the LA-Long Beach-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area and current LA rent benchmarks.
Affordability Calculator
Based on the HUD 30%-of-income standard · LA Metro FY2026 AMI
Monthly rent you can afford
$1,625
Current rent burden
44% of income
AffordableBurdenedSevere
Your household falls at roughly 65% AMI for the LA metro — you may qualify for Low Income affordable housing and workforce programs, though waitlists vary.
→ Tool
AMI Eligibility Check
Find out which tiers of affordable housing your income qualifies you for — ELI, VLI, LI, or Moderate — based on LA Metro AMI and household size.
→ Tool
Location Insights
Enter a ZIP code to see rent burden, eviction filings, voucher utilization, and affordable unit counts in that neighborhood.
07 Definitions
Housing, in plain language.
Acronyms and jargon often obscure how housing actually works. Here are the terms that appear throughout this dashboard, written plainly.
Housing & Affordability
+
Rent-Burdened
A household spending more than 30% of its gross income on rent and utilities.
Severely Rent-Burdened
A household spending more than 50% of its gross income on rent.
AMI (Area Median Income)
The midpoint income for a given metro area, published annually by HUD. Eligibility for most programs is expressed as a % of AMI.
Affordable Housing
Housing where rent is capped so that a qualifying income tier pays no more than 30% of income on rent.
Workforce Housing
Generally, housing affordable to households at 60–120% AMI — teachers, nurses, service workers.
LIHTC
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — the primary federal tool for financing affordable housing construction.
Subsidies & Assistance
+
Voucher (HCV / Section 8)
A federal rental subsidy that pays the difference between 30% of tenant income and the actual rent, up to a payment standard.
Tenant-Based Subsidy
A subsidy that follows the renter to any qualifying unit (e.g., HCV).
Project-Based Subsidy
A subsidy attached to a specific building or unit (e.g., PBV, LIHTC units).
Payment Standard
The maximum rent HACLA or LACDA will approve for a voucher unit, set by bedroom count and ZIP code.
Utilization Rate
The % of issued vouchers currently leased in a unit. Below 90% signals landlord-acceptance friction.
RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration)
A HUD program that converts public housing to project-based Section 8 to attract private capital for rehab.
Eviction & Legal
+
Unlawful Detainer (UD)
The California legal term for an eviction lawsuit filed by a landlord.
3-Day Notice
A notice landlords must serve before filing for nonpayment or lease violations. Other notices (30/60/90 day) apply to no-fault terminations.
Ellis Act
California law allowing landlords to evict all tenants to exit the rental market entirely.
Just Cause
LA and California laws requiring landlords to have a legally recognized reason to end a tenancy.
Displacement
When a tenant is forced to leave their unit — by eviction, rent increase, owner action, or demolition.
Right to Counsel
Local programs providing tenants free legal representation in eviction proceedings.
Access & Waitlists
+
Waitlist
A list of applicants awaiting an available housing unit or voucher. May be open, closed, or referral-only.
Voucher Lottery
When demand exceeds waitlist capacity, applicants are randomly selected from the pool.
Coordinated Entry System (CES)
LA County's system for prioritizing and referring people experiencing homelessness to housing resources.
Placement Rate
The % of applicants who actually secure housing after being pulled from a waitlist.
Preference Category
Groups moved up on the waitlist — e.g., veterans, domestic violence survivors, disabled households.
Lease-Up Period
The time between voucher issuance and actually leasing a unit. Often 60–120 days.
08 Data Sources
Where the numbers come from.
This dashboard aggregates from public sources. Nothing here is proprietary — we're in the business of making existing data legible, not of inventing it.
Government
- Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD)
- Housing Authority of the City of LA (HACLA)
- LA County Development Authority (LACDA)
- LA Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA)
- LA County Superior Court (filings)
Federal & State
- U.S. Census · American Community Survey
- HUD · CHAS & AMI datasets
- HUD · PIC & IMS/PIC Voucher data
- CA HCD · State housing data
- Legislative Analyst's Office (CA)
Research & Nonprofit
- California Housing Partnership
- Eviction Lab (Princeton)
- Neighborhood Data for Social Change (USC)
- UCLA Lewis Center
- NLIHC · Out of Reach LA
Methodology note: Figures are refreshed quarterly where sources permit. AMI-tied thresholds reflect HUD FY2026 limits for the LA-Long Beach-Glendale HMFA. Eviction filing data lags by 30–90 days. ZIP-code level estimates use ACS 5-year rolling averages where recent data is unavailable.