The current number of apartment rental units in the city of Los Angeles: 760,000. The percentage of occupied apartment units in the city of Los Angeles in 2004: 95.9. The number of apartment owners currently registered with the Apartment Association of Greater L.A.: 12,000. In 1995, the average apartment in Los Angeles County cost $865 per month. The fair market rent — a federal guideline for lower-rent apartments — for a two-bedroom in L.A. County is: $1,021. Annual income needed to afford this apartment: $40,840. Hourly wage needed to afford the rent: $19.63. Number of hours a minimum-wage worker ($6.75 an hour) would have to work a week to afford the rent: 116. Monthly rent for the average L.A. County apartment increased 47 percent from 1995 to 2002. Monthly rent for the average one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles increased 23.1 percent from 2000 to 2004. The city with the highest rental rates in L.A. County: Santa Monica. The average Santa Monica apartment rent, as of December 2004: $2,563. The city with the lowest rental rates in L.A. County: Palmdale. The average Palmdale apartment rent, as of December 2004: $830. The average one-bedroom apartment in the city of L.A., as of December 2004, rents for $1,218. The annual income needed to afford that rent: $49,000. The number of buildings erected before 1978 in the city of L.A. — and therefore subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which protects tenants from excessive rent increases while allowing property owners a reasonable return on their investment: 80,000. Number of units: 589,000. Under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the annual allowable rent increase in Los Angeles (for a 12-month period ending September 30 of each year): 3 percent. (This is based on the Consumer Price Index average for the Los Angeles, Anaheim and Long Beach areas.) The number of citations for code ­violations — such as no heating, rodents, poor plumbing — in rental housing since the Systematic Housing Code Enforcement Program began in 1998: more than 1.5 million. The number of apartment units demolished since 2001 to make room for LAUSD schools: 156. Number of homes demolished: 225. Between 1989 and 2002, the median income of renters decreased by 3.6 percent. For renters with children: 7.1 percent. For low-income renters: 10.3 percent. During the same time period, the income of the median homeowner household increased by 7.4 percent. The percentage of the city’s renter households who are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes for rent: 43.3 percent. The number of Angelenos currently receiving federally funded rental assistance, including Section 8: 107,053. The number of Angelenos on the waiting list for federally funded assistance, including Section 8: 94,164. The number of households that participate in the city of L.A.’s Section 8 program: 44,000. The number of federally funded rental assistance contracts canceled in 2003: 7,275. 6,857 of them were Section 8 contracts. The number of federally funded rental assistance contracts canceled in 2004: 8,509 8,183 of them were Section 8 contracts. The amount in federal funds that the L.A. City Housing Authority gave to landlords who participated in federally funded assistance, including Section 8, in 2004: $361,179,623. The number of private landlords in L.A. who participate in federally funded rental assistance programs: 17,000. The number of privately owned affordable rental housing units in the city of Los Angeles with federal subsidies: 24,500. The number of households living below the poverty line ($49,000 for a family of four) in the city of L.A.: 147,516 or 22 percent.
Sources: Real Facts, a real estate data service, and city, county and federal records.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.