Topics – USC Area Housing Dashboard

Household Income Groups

Over the last decade, the share of households in the USC area making over $100,000 has more than doubled while the share of households making under $30,000 has decreased by 10 percentage points. This indicates a changing population around USC, with significant growth in the proportion of USC area residents that are making an income of greater than $60,000 per year, as lower-income residents become a much smaller proportion of the population. While the trends in income and shifting populations are similar in the larger City of Los Angeles, they are more pronounced in the USC area.

Without accounting for inflation, typical home values in the USC area have increased nearly 300% over the last two decades, from just under $176,000 in 2000 to approximately $690,450 in 2021. (When inflation is taken into account, typical home values in the area have increased by just over 140% over the last two decades.)
Typical home values have risen steadily in both the USC Area and the larger City of Los Angeles since 2012.

Ellis Act Evictions have been rising in both the USC Area and across the entire City of Los Angeles in recent years
Starting in 2018, Ellis Act Evictions in the USC Area increased substantially compared to the City average
Ellis Act Evictions are concentrated in specific parts of the USC Area neighborhood. Residents in Census Tract 2226 (directly west of USC Campus) has experienced the highest number of Ellis Act Evictions (86) since 2007 .

Between 2011 and 2020, 911 Calls regarding Landlord/Tenant Disputes have been consistently higher in the USC Area than the City of Los Angeles as a whole.
Landlord/Tenant Dispute Calls are concentrated in specific parts of the USC Area neighborhood. The Southwest Corner of the neighborhood has experienced the most total calls (241) since 2011.

Starting in 2012, mortgage applications for multi-family properties tripled in both the USC Area neighborhood and the larger City of Los Angeles.
The USC Area neighborhood has had a higher rate of mortgage applications for multi-family properties than the Citywide average in four out of the last six years.
Multi-family mortgage applications have been spread throughout various pockets of the USC neighborhood each year. Census Tract 2226 (directly West of USC’s Campus) has had the most applications (25) over the last decade.

Although mortgage applications for multi-family properties have been increasing in the USC area over the last decade, the vast majority of mortgage applications in every year have been for single family properties.
Since 2010, denials of single family mortgage applications have been decreasing in both the USC Area neighborhood as well as the larger City of Los Angeles. However, in nine out of the last 10 years, a larger share of single family applications have been denied in the USC Area compared to the Citywide average.
Mortgage applications for single family properties have been largely concentrated in the southern and western portions of the neighborhood around USC. Census Tract 2316 (the southwestern corner of the neighborhood) has experienced the most single family mortgage applications since 2010.

People who identify as Latino/a have consistently made up the largest share of the USC area resident population across the last three decades, representing just over 60% of the population.
The share of the people who identify as Black/African American fell from 24% in 1990 to 13% in 2019 – the only racial/ethnic group to experience a decrease in population size in the neighborhood.
The share of people who identify as Asian in the USC area grew from 4% in 1990 to 11% in 2019, the largest increase of any racial/ethnic group.
The overall size of the resident population in the USC area has remained relatively stable over the last three decades, increasing slightly from 673,000 in 1990 to 686,000 in 2019.

Between 2010 and 2020, the average income of mortgage applicants in the USC Area neighborhood increased significantly. The share of applicants with incomes under $69,000 decreased from 42% in 2010 to just 4% in 2020. By contrast, the share of applicants with incomes above $194,000 increased from 10% in 2010 to 53% in 2020.
Mortgage applicants in the lowest income group (under $69,000) were equally as likely to receive application denials in the USC Area and the City as a whole, with a 20% denial rate. However, applicants in the middle three income groups (those making $69,000 – 194,000) were more likely to have their applications denied in the USC area than the City as a whole.
Between 2010 and 2020, mortgage applications from Latino/a heads of household decreased significantly from 61% in 2010 to 36% in 2020. By contrast, the share of applications from White and Asian heads of household increased over the same period. Black heads of household made up fewer than 10% of mortgage applicants in every year.
Mortgage applications from Black heads of household were denied at higher rates than any other racial/ethnic group, and applications from Black households were denied at higher rates in the USC area than the City average.

Due in part to USC’s presence, the neighborhood containing the university has approximately three times more Commercial zoning than the City at large.
The USC Area neighborhood also has significantly more land zoned for Public Facilities, including Exposition Park, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum/the Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles Trade Tech College, as well as several K-12 schools.
The neighborhood around USC has less than 1% of its land zoned for Parks and Open Space, compared to 21% Citywide.
Nearly half of the land in the neighborhood around USC is zoned for Multi-Family housing, compared to 14% Citywide. Notably, multi-family housing can be built on commercially zoned land. Therefore, nearly 70% of the land near USC can be used to build multifamily housing compared to nearly 20% Citywide.
Just 3% of the USC Area neighborhood is zoned for Single-Family Housing compared to 45% Citywide.