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Los Angeles

Cost of living, housing, groceries, transportation and more.

Cost data reviewed 23 Sep 2026FX snapshot 25 Sep 2026 UTC
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Rent · 1BR non-prime
$1,850
Monthly planning midpoint
▣
Groceries
$520
Monthly planning midpoint
▤
Public transit
$78
Monthly planning midpoint
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Eating out
$260
Monthly planning midpoint

What the numbers suggest

The model midpoint for one person in Los Angeles is $3,210. At the modeled component midpoint, rent represents roughly 58% of the six-category basket, food about 24%, and public transit about 2%.

This page shows a planning range rather than one “correct” household cost. Actual spending changes with neighbourhood, lease terms, consumption and lifestyle.

What is included

The headline includes rent, utilities/connectivity, groceries, eating out, public transit and household/personal essentials. Healthcare, childcare, car ownership, taxes, savings and discretionary lifestyle spending are separate.

Core monthly cost breakdown

6 of six core planning components for Los Angeles have captured numeric calibration evidence: 6 direct component observations and 0 broad calibrations. Broad calibration can come from household or per-person spending evidence and is not the same as a direct category measurement. The displayed midpoint remains a normalized planning estimate, not a quote or guaranteed household spend.

Rent · 1BR non-primeDirect component evidence$1,850
Utilities + connectivityDirect component evidence$300
GroceriesDirect component evidence$520
Eating outDirect component evidence$260
Public transitDirect component evidence$78
Household + personalDirect component evidence$180
Core evidence coverage6 direct · 0 broad · 0 model

Direct component evidence measures the category itself or a closely matched subcomponent. Broad calibration evidence uses a wider household/per-person benchmark. Source-linked model anchors have identified sources but no captured numeric observation yet.

  • Rent · 1BR non-prime: direct component evidence — Apartment List · 2026-08 — example median one-bedroom rent: 1,856 USD/month
  • Utilities + connectivity: direct component evidence — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED); source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2024 — example Expenditures: Electricity by Size of Consumer Unit: One Person Consumer Unit: 1,197 USD/year
  • Groceries: direct component evidence — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2023-24 — example food at home: 6,546 USD/year per consumer unit
  • Eating out: direct component evidence — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2023-24 — example food away from home: 5,312 USD/year per consumer unit
  • Public transit: direct component evidence — LA Metro · 2026 — example daily fare cap: 5 USD/day
  • Household + personal: direct component evidence — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2023-24 — example personal care products and services share: 1.3 percent of annual expenditures
Expanded evidence layer

Detailed source-backed profile

28 of 52 fields are public and source-backed for Los Angeles. Only verified fields are shown; unresolved work remains in the audit ledger.

Housing & ownership 3
Three-bedroom non-primeHUD FY2026 three-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the metropolitan/HMFA area.
$3,298
Mortgage interest-rate referenceFreddie Mac national 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average as of 2026-09-17.
6.95 %
Rental move-in cost rulesCurrent state/local rental-deposit context from the cited tenant-rights source.
For most California residential rentals, the security deposit is capped at one month of rent. A limited small-landlord exception can allow up to two months of rent; other local protections may also apply.
Utilities & connectivity 2
Energy/water for baseline dwelling2024 BLS annual one-person consumer-unit spending on electricity, natural gas, fuel oil/other fuels, and water/public services, divided by 12.
$177.42 /month
Mid-tier mobile plan2024 BLS annual cellular-service expenditure for one-person consumer units, divided by 12.
$61.08 /month
Food & groceries 8
Milk 1 LBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$1.12–$1.14
Bread 500 gBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$2.00–$2.01
Rice/grains 1 kgBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$2.40–$2.45
Eggs 12BLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$2.14–$2.27
Chicken 1 kgBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$4.42–$4.51
Red-meat equivalent 1 kgBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$15.05–$15.26
Representative fruit 1 kgBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$1.42–$1.44
Representative vegetables 1 kgBLS U.S. city-average retail prices for June–August 2026, normalized to the site unit.
$4.36–$4.75
Transport 2
Single adult fareCurrent adult base fare from the local transit operator.
$1.75
Gasoline per litreBLS metropolitan-area average regular-unleaded gasoline prices for June–August 2026.
$1.44–$1.49 /L
Health 2
Public healthcare baseline/eligibilityPublic-program context from the state Medicaid/Medi-Cal authority.
Medi-Cal provides free or low-cost public health coverage to qualifying California residents. Eligibility and scope vary by income, household and other rules, and some immigration-related enrollment rules changed in 2026.
Health-insurance spending proxy2024 BLS annual health-insurance expenditure for one-person consumer units, divided by 12.
$206.83 /month
Earnings & tax 4
Official mean earnings benchmarkBLS OEWS all-occupations mean hourly wage for the metro area, May 2025; annualized at 2,080 hours and divided by 12.
$6,439.33 /month gross
Core cost divided by earningsCLC core monthly model midpoint of USD 3,210 divided by the BLS-derived monthly gross mean earnings benchmark of USD 6,439.33.
49.85 % of gross
Income remaining after core spendBLS-derived monthly gross mean earnings benchmark less the existing CLC core monthly model midpoint of USD 3,210.
$3,229.33 /month before tax
Tax structureFederal and state tax-structure context from official tax authorities.
2026 federal marginal individual income-tax rates run from 10% to 37%. California has a graduated personal-income-tax system; the latest full individual schedule available in this review is tax year 2025, with rates from 1% to 12.3% before the additional 1% tax on taxable income above $1 million. Confirm the applicable filing-year schedule before relying on it.
City context 1
Climate normalsNOAA 1991–2020 climate normals for a representative city weather station.
NOAA 1991–2020 normals at Los Angeles International Airport: annual mean about 17.6 °C; January mean about 14.4 °C; July mean about 20.9 °C.
Detailed evidence sources

Cities with a similar core-budget scale

Using the site's bundled 2026-09-25 FX snapshot only to put model midpoints on a common scale, these covered cities sit closest to Los Angeles's six-category midpoint. This is a cost-model similarity, not a claim that the cities have the same housing market, wages or lifestyle.

Source and dates

Data model CLC-v5.9-global-detail-1 · site V7.1 · evidence granularity reviewed 2026-09-29 · core evidence mix 6 direct / 0 broad / 0 model. Missing fields are omitted; modeled anchors are labeled and may differ by neighbourhood and lifestyle.