As the New York Times wrote on October 21, “Life Feeling Too Expensive? It’s Not Just You. And It’s Not Just Inflation.” Indeed, while inflation has eroded wages, it was greatly dwarfed by the soaring prices of things like food, shelter, medical care and education. Life in the LA area is even more expensive than the national average, and LA Metro wages have not kept up. Use the tabs below to see how.
| ATU | SMART | TCU | Rent | Own | ||
| 2022 | -2.53% | -3.68% | -2.01% | 4.35% | 4.40% | |
| 2023 | 1.15% | 1.31% | 1.80% | 5.46% | 5.11% | |
| 2024 | 4.97% | 1.91% | 2.38% | 4.76% | 5.51% | |
| 2025 | 1.98% | 2.10% | 2.55% | 3.99% | 3.75% | |
| 2026 | 2.37% | 2.42% | 2.94% | 2.44% | 2.49% |
Source: LACMTA labor contracts and the Consumer Price Index for LA-LB-Anaheim from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current (2026) prices use the average of the first half of 2026. “Own” comes from “owner’s equivalent rent.” ATU, SMART & TCU raises are calculated from mechanic “A”, full-time operator and custodian top rates, as per their appropriate contracts. Ambassadors were non-contract until 2025, and so are not included.