Concerns over the high cost of living pushed the satisfaction of residents in Los Angeles County back to its lowest-ever level, with renters feeling especially pessimistic about their futures, showed an annual survey published Wednesday.
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The Quality of Life Index is a project of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Luskin School of Public Affairs that gathers responses from county residents in nine major categories to produce an overall satisfaction rating.
From Feb. 22 to March 14, 1,686 residents living in the most populous U.S. county were surveyed. The overall satisfaction rating fell two points from last year to 53 on a scale from 10 to 100, marking the second time in three years it came in below the survey's 55 midpoint since the index launched in 2016.
"That means a majority of respondents are dissatisfied with the overall quality of their lives," the UCLA survey said.
The cost-of-living satisfaction rating fell to 38 from 41, the lowest score ever observed for any category in the survey, it said, adding that all major demographic subgroups rated the cost of living negatively.
Renters, making up 37 percent of the respondents, are "being disproportionately affected by the economic and inflationary pressures facing the region," said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the study at UCLA.
The survey found that 51 percent of renters report being pessimistic about their economic future in the county, while only 23 percent think they will ever be able to buy a home.
Around 60 percent of respondents believe homelessness in their area has gotten worse over the past year, and merely 20 percent are more hopeful than they were last year that the homelessness situation in the county will improve, it said.