Ten years ago, Los Angeles County was facing major economic and social challenges, but residents felt “lukewarm” about their quality of life.
But the summer turned out to be a high point of LA.
As the years progressed, Angelenos continued to report declining satisfaction in all key indicators – particularly, cost of living, traffic and education. This year, the county’s overall quality of life fell to its lowest point in the survey’s 11-year history.
This year’s low Quality of Life Index, a metric compiled by UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, builds on a decline that grew rapidly during the COVID-19 crisis and is struggling to bounce back, as LA County residents have faced a number of disasters and setbacks — disrupting immigration raids and devastating wildfires — on top of some of the highest housing costs.
“We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID, the rising cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires. [They all] they have damaged almost every aspect of our lives,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, who conducted the study.” “People haven’t had the chance to get out of the water and get some fresh air.”
The cost of living remains the most important factor in determining the quality of life of citizens, an average that has fallen from 2025 levels, the study found. Respondents — selected from a representative sample of 1,400 LA County residents surveyed in March — said their cost of living was largely influenced by housing affordability, but the cost of utilities, groceries and taxes were mentioned more this year.
Nearly every category of the survey saw a drop in levels compared to last year, with six categories hitting historic lows since the survey began in 2016: education, transportation/traffic, jobs and economy, public safety, neighborhood, and interracial, racial and religious relations.
The index point for 2026 came in at 52, three points below the midpoint of 55. The index is based on how surveyed citizens rate their satisfaction in nine categories of quality of life and about 40 sub-categories, while measuring the relative importance of each measure.
The index has fallen in the 50 years since polling began. The ratings in the first two years were very high—at 59—and dropped slightly in subsequent polls. The index in 2025 was 53, but every drop in the index — even one — is “huge,” Yaroslavsky said.
Yaroslavsky said he thinks the decline this year has more to do with the lingering effects and lingering concerns — financial and otherwise — from the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and the Eaton and Palisades fires.
About one-third of the citizens in this survey said they were worried that they or someone close to them could be deported, while 15% said they knew someone who had been arrested or deported.
When it comes to the aftermath of the January 2025 wildfire, which destroyed much of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, nearly 1 in 5 residents said they continue to suffer financial losses associated with the disaster. About a quarter of the residents reported that they lost money as a result of the fire.
More than half of respondents said they were not satisfied with bushfire recovery efforts, while many were worried about how to respond to the disaster or the next disaster: almost half said they were unsure if they would be able to get the financial resources needed to do so.
The survey also asked voters about the upcoming mayoral election, and found that the race remains “unsettled,” with 40% of voters surveyed still undecided.
In the polls, Mayor Karen Bass led her challengers with 25% support, which the report says shows that Bass “will be able to secure one of the two seats in the November general election, but the identity of her opponent and her true prospects in November are not yet clear.”
Despite all the challenges and negative findings, the survey interestingly found that a majority – albeit a small majority – of residents still find themselves optimistic about their economic future in LA County, a finding that has remained consistent over the last three annual surveys.
The report also found a strong majority – more than 80% of respondents – believe that living in LA gives them access to opportunities for “good life,” which the survey described as opportunities for people to experience the outdoors, diverse groups of people and arts and culture.
“I think people still have hope and still think things can get better,” Yaroslavsky said. He did not want to overstate the findings, especially since almost half of the people reported that they had no hope for their future, but he hopes that people can take advantage of that hope.
“There’s a lot of resilience in LA, … especially for immigrants,” Yaroslavsky said. “There are still many people who see the future here, economically, that is what will make this region continue.”
