How many people live in overcrowded housing? About one third of renters in Los Angeles live in overcrowded conditions, and of these, one quarter are severely overcrowded. This is because nearly two thirds of all the City's apartments are either studios or one-bedrooms, leaving only one third with two or more bedrooms.

Most of the families with three or more people, 43 percent of all households, have to squeeze into units that may be too small. This is especially true for larger families with five or more members. While there are over 128,000 households with five or more persons, there are only about 67,000 units with three or more bedrooms.

Did you know? One quarter of all households in Los Angeles live in overcrowded conditions that are equivalent to five people living together in a one bedroom apartment.

What exactly is overcrowding? Overcrowding is defined as more than 1.01 people per room, severe overcrowding as more than 1.51 people per room. A one-bedroom apartment (bedroom + living room + kitchen = 3 rooms) would be overcrowded if four people lived there and severely overcrowded if five people lived there.

A two-bedroom apartment (two bedrooms + living room + kitchen = 4 rooms) would be overcrowded if five people lived there and severely overcrowded if six people lived there.

The following two tables show the mismatch in unit size and family size and the degree of overcrowding in the City.

Source: 2000 U.S. Census

** Severely overcrowded
Source: 2000 U.S. Census

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