Airbnb released a report showing hosts in the Los Angeles metro area welcomed nearly 3.3 million guest arrivals who contributed an estimated $4.4 billion in local economic activity in 2023.1
The report offers data-driven insights into the benefits home sharing brings to the greater Los Angeles area. By welcoming guests into their homes who then spend money on local businesses, hosts in the Los Angeles metro area helped support approximately 43,000 jobs2 and generate $1.2 billion in total tax revenue.3 This is in addition to the more than $35 million in local occupancy taxes contributed to the City of Los Angeles in 2023.4
Hosting on Airbnb is also a vital source of supplemental income for local residents. According to a 2023 survey of hosts in the Los Angeles metro area, 62 percent said the income earned through hosting has helped them stay in their home, while 26 percent said hosting helped them avoid foreclosure or eviction.
“This new analysis underscores how home sharing is an important economic engine for the region, allowing residents to supplement their income while supporting tourism and providing more options for travelers,” said Justin Wesson, Airbnb Senior Public Policy Manager. “It will help inform our work with Los Angeles leaders to ensure we support solutions that balance the benefits of home sharing with community needs.”
The report comes at a time when travel spending in California has reached an all-time high, with new statewide data from Visit California showing short-term vacation rental visitor spending increased 1.5 percent compared to 2022. In Los Angeles, short-term rental visitor spending increased 7 percent from 2022 to 2023, further highlighting how short-term rentals offer a growing source of revenue for the local economy.
The report also analyzes the housing market in the greater Los Angeles area where the chronic underproduction of housing is the leading cause of rising housing costs. According to Airbnb’s analysis, 373,000 housing units would have needed to be added in the Los Angeles metro area over the last five years to stabilize rent growth at the rate of inflation, but only 140,000 units were actually constructed over that time.5 By contrast, entire home listings on Airbnb booked for more than 90 nights a year represent 0.23 percent of the Los Angeles metro area’s 4.8 million housing units.6
Airbnb remains committed to partnering with Los Angeles leaders and pioneering innovative solutions to support responsible tourism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked closely with the City of Los Angeles to stand up an automated enforcement system, and entered into a platform agreement utilizing the City’s Application Programming Interface (API). This first-of-its-kind compliance system has helped the City of Los Angeles enforce its home sharing ordinance, and Airbnb continues to support efforts to encourage more platforms to adopt similar tools that promote compliance.
View the full report here.
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