Abstract

Housing prices have increased at an alarming rate: In 2000, the average price of a house in the U.S. was about $212,000; by the end of 2022, it was more than $552,000. Rising housing prices in dense urban areas, in particular, may place significant constraints on the residential location of low-income households and, in so doing, limit their ability to live in neighborhoods with suitable employment. Such dynamics are particularly acute in coastal areas, where limited housing supply amidst high housing demand have pushed up housing prices compared to inland areas. The growing affordable housing crisis has motivated many low-income households of color to seek lower-cost housing in the outer reaches of metropolitan areas, potentially helping to explain recent increases in commute distance. Long-distance commutes can place a heavy time and cost burden on families with the fewest resources; they also can have negative effects on health as well as the environment.

In this study, the research team examined the relationship between housing affordability and commute distance within two adjacent and diverse Southern California metropolitan areas: the Los Angeles-Orange MSA (characterized by higher costs, coastal location, older, more urban) and the Riverside-San Bernardino MSA (marked by lower costs, inland location, newer, more suburban). Drawing on data from the 2015 Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics dataset and the 2017 5-year American Community Survey, our research centers on the role of “jobs-housing fit,” whether the commutes of low-wage workers are shorter in neighborhoods with a higher ratio of low-wage jobs relative to the number of rental units affordable to low-wage workers.