The high cost of living remains a main concern in America’s largest exacerbated by the January 2025 wildfires is one of the biggest worries bothering residents of Los Angeles County.
A survey focused on the county, the nation’s largest with 9.7 million people, also shows worries about the Trump Administration’s latest round of efforts to deport and curtain immigrants, and the persistent problem of homelessness.
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The annual survey from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs produces a Quality of Life Index. The QLI was unchanged this year, but the score of 53 matches last year’s lowest in the 10 years of the QLI’s existence. The survey has hit this low point in three out of the last four years.
In addition to the standardized questions included in the QLI survey, questions were included this year that touched on the L.A. wildfires.
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The survey found the collective trauma of the January wildfires in communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena is more widespread than anticipated, with effects felt across the county in areas ranging from North County to South Bay.
More than two-fifths of people polled said they know someone affected by the fires, while 14% said that an actual loss of income caused by the fires applied a great deal to them personally, and another 13% said it applied somewhat.
The majority of county residents (89%) believe that homeowners who lost their property to the fires should be allowed to rebuild at the same location. The same question was asked in 2019 after the Woolsey Fire near Simi Valley, and 76% agreed with allowing for rebuilding in the same location. About half (52%) of those polled are willing to increase taxes to fund efforts to improve wildfire response.
This year, cost of living has soared to its highest salience level, with three-quarters respondents saying it is the most important category affecting their quality of life over all the others. This is a main contributing factor to why the overall QLI score is unchanged from last year, according to the organizers of the survey.
A significant percentage of county residents (44%) are worried that they, a member of their family or a friend could be deported by federal authorities. Latinos (54%), residents ages 18-29 (57%) and 30-39 (52%) are the likeliest to have this concern.
For the first time in recent years, the number of county residents who believe the homeless problem is getting worse actually declined by nearly 10 points—from 60% in 2024 to 52% in 2025. However, only 10% of Angelenos believe the situation is improving.
The survey included 1,400 L.A. County residents and was conducted February 23 to March 9. It covers nine categories and also ranks the salience of those categories.
Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Trends Wildfire Louisiana
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