Over 1M California households pay $3K or more in rent, most in country

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- More than a million households in California are paying at least $3,000 a month in rent. That's the most in the country.

Census Bureau data shows Californians paying $3,000 or more grew by more than a half-million households -- or about 123% between 2019 and 2023.

Factors pushing up state rent prices include above-average paychecks and the ongoing housing shortage.

Housing advocates, rent control supporters, union leaders and several elected officials thanked the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for its endorsement of Proposition 33, a November statewide ballot initiative that will allow for the expansion of rent control in California by overturning the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a state law passed in 1995.

More than 100 California elected officials, including Congressmember Maxine Waters, Congressmember Barbara Lee, Congressmember Ro Khanna, State Senator Ben Allen, State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, and Assemblymember Chris Holden, have also endorsed Proposition 33.

Proposition 33 is just 23 words: "The state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control." It would remove California's statewide rent control ban and give local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for low-income and middle-income renters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.