Don't get so down about still having a roommate well into your adult years: a new study out from Zillow shows that nearly half of all working-age adults in LA and Orange counties are "doubling up" (defined by Zillow as at least two working-age, unmarried or un-partnered adults living together) to save cash on housing. That's a "higher percentage than any other big city in the country," says the LA Times, citing a national study done by Zillow. See? It's basically the new normal to have roomies! Using numbers from the US Census, Zillow found that 48 percent of adults were living with a roommate in 2012; that's up from about 41 percent in 2000.
Even super-pricey San Francisco only had 39 percent of 2012 households pairing with a roommate, but incomes up there are usually higher than they are down here. With SoCal's combination of painfully high rental prices and relatively low wages have made doubling a popular and financially sensible way to make housing more affordable. (A small part of the sharing might be accounted for by various communities where it's common for multiple generations to live under one roof, too.)
It's already been established that Los Angeles is home to some of the nation's most crowded zip codes. But it might not stay that for long, at least not for everyone. Number crunchers at Zillow cautioned that as the economy picks up steam, those doubled households will split up, creating even more demand for LA's already precious housing.
· Nearly half of Los Angeles adults double up on housing, study finds [LAT]
· Doubled-up for Dollars [Zillow]
· Historic South-Central Has the Most Crowded Housing in the US [Curbed LA]
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