LOS ANGELES—Airbnb’s guests contributed $4.4 billion to Los Angeles’ economy in 2023—with nearly 3.3 million guests arriving to visit the city—while supporting 43,000 jobs and generating $1.2 billion in total tax revenue, the company reported Friday, May 31.
The company generated more than $35 million in local occupancy taxes contributed to the city of Los Angeles last year, Airbnb reported in its newly issued Economic Impact and Housing Report for the L.A. metropolitan area.
According to a 2023 survey of hosts in the Los Angeles area, 62 percent of residents said the income earned through hosting has helped them stay in their home, while 26 percent said hosting helped them avoid foreclosure or eviction, Airbnb said.
“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 new report comes at a time when travel spending in California has reached an all-time high, with new statewide data from Visit California, the state’s official tourism site, showing short-term vacation rental visitor spending last year increased 1.5 percent compared to 2022.
Airbnb reported that in Los Angeles, short-term rental visitor spending increased 7 percent from 2022 to 2023, and hosts in the area earned nearly $1.2 billion last year.
The report also looked at the housing market in the greater Los Angeles area where the chronic underproduction of housing is the leading cause of rising housing costs, the company says.
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 just 140,000 units were actually constructed over that time.
By contrast, entire home listings on Airbnb booked for more than 90 nights a year represent 0.23 percent of the Los Angeles metropolitan area’s 4.8 million housing units, the San Francisco-based online marketplace for short- and long-term homestays reported.
