Commute Distance and Jobs-Housing Fit in Los Angeles

Brief
Evelyn Blumenberg | Fariba Siddiq
April 2022

Across the country, many large metropolitan areas face an acute shortage of housing, which is driving up housing prices. Anecdotal evidence suggests that households priced out of expensive urban neighborhoods are moving to the outer reaches of metropolitan areas, where they find cheaper housing but have longer-distance commutes. Growing commute distances may negatively affect the health and economic mobility of workers and, if cars are involved, have deleterious effects on the environment. In this study, UCLA researchers investigated the merits of this anecdotal evidence. The study examined the relationship between housing availability near workplaces and commute distance for lower-, medium-, and higher-wage workers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area