Inflation driving up rents for LA residents

A new report from SmartAsset suggests that an average worker in Los Angeles needs to put in more than 72 hours a week to pay for rent alone, because the median rent in the city runs at about $1,500 a month. 

"I would say at least 75%," Mysheka Johnson said when asked how much of her income is consumed by rent. 

Johnson, a fast-food worker, has two jobs to support herself and her three children. She was part of a demonstration for fast-food workers Thursday in downtown LA. 

Dr. Chris Thornberg is an economist and a director at University of California Riverside's School of Business. 

"Functionally speaking, the numbers are wrong," Thornberg told CBSLA. 

SmartAsset said the average hourly pay in LA is roughly $21 an hour, though the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it's closer to $36 an hour. 

Thornberg said that low wage workers have seen growth during the pandemic, while the unemployment rate is low. 

"The increase in rent we're seeing today is reflecting that. They're taking their new found prosperity and they want a nicer place to live," he said. 

However, that's little comfort for Vivian Mata, who makes slightly higher than minimum wage and lives with her parents. 

"Right  now, everything is too high with the rent. I think the minimum is $2,000. I cannot afford that, to move out by myself," she said. 

Johnson said that she and her children had to move back in with her aging parents after work became unstable, and that they're living paycheck to paycheck. 

"You can't get a loan, so you got to go ask your friends for help. Without them, I can't do it," Johnson said. 

Thornberg did acknowledge that work needs to be done toward wage equity while rent is high, and said the nonpartisan solution is to build more housing to meet the demand.