In this study, we examine the relationship between housing affordability and commute distance within two adjacent and diverse Southern California metropolitan areas: the Los Angeles-Orange MSA (characterized by higher costs, coastal location, older, more urban) and the Riverside-San Bernardino MSA (marked by lower costs, inland location, newer, more suburban). Drawing on data from the 2015 Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics dataset and the 2017 5-year American Community Survey, our research centers on the role of “jobs-housing fit,” whether the commutes of low-wage workers are shorter in neighborhoods with a higher ratio of low-wage jobs relative to the number of rental units affordable to low-wage workers.
