LA County quality-of-life scores take a hit across the board

LOS ANGELES — Rising inflation and housing costs, an increase in crime and the lingering effects of the pandemic have taken a substantial toll on Angelenos’ quality of life over the last year, according to a new survey from UCLA.

The 2022 Quality of Life Index, prepared by UCLA’S Luskin School of Public Affairs, dropped to 53 out of 100, the lowest score since it was started in 2016.

This year’s result is five points lower than the results of the 2021 and 2020 surveys and three points lower than the 2018 and 2019 scores of 56, the previous nadir.

“What the pandemic couldn’t do over the last two years, inflation and increases in violent and property crime succeeded in doing,” said Los Angeles Initiative director Zev Yaroslavsky, who oversees the project. “It appears that the dam has burst this year.”

The survey measures 1,400 Los Angeles County respondents’ satisfaction in categories including cost of living, transportation and traffic, the environment, public safety, education, race relations, healthcare and their neighborhood.

It provides an overall score as well as individual scores for each category, providing a snapshot into the anxieties, preoccupations and satisfactions of L.A. County residents.

Usually, Yaroslavsky said, changes in some categories are offset by shifts in other areas, providing for a consistent baseline; since 2016, the overall score has never risen or fallen by more than three points year-overyear and has never fallen below 55.

That timespan included contentious political climates, destructive wildfires, intense drought and the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For instance, parents with children last year gave education a score of 52, down from 2020’s score of 58. But that sharp decline did nothing to change the overall satisfaction score from 2020.

But this year, every category in the index saw a decrease in satisfaction, with eight of the nine categories reaching all-time lows.

One of the most dramatic decreases was seen in cost of living, which swung from 45 to 39 amid a pileup of sky-high gas and housing prices and inflation.

And many Angelenos said they were not only paying more for food and other essentials but also getting paid less.

More than 30% of respondents said their income had decreased during the pandemic. Around 22% said their income rose.