Beyond Airbnb

An Archive of Airbnb in Los Angeles County

As you awaken from your slumber, the hiss of the cabin pressure changing is a reminder that you were aboard a flight and the first sign that you’re close. You press your forehead against the plane window, and through tired eyes, the outline of Los Angeles emerges — a sprawling landscape stretching from the mountains to the sea. In due time, you’ll be dropping off your baggage in a beautiful bungalow you booked months ago. When the wheels deploy and the city comes up to meet you, it’s easy to forget that this view isn’t just a destination. You’re not just landing in a city; you’re landing in the midst of millions of lives already in progress.

When you book an Airbnb in Los Angeles or anywhere in the world, you are not simply reserving a temporary accommodation. You are participating in the permanent transformation of a city, with effects extending beyond the duration of your stay. Behind every listing is a home that was once a local residence, a neighborhood experiencing the rhythm of revolving strangers, and a housing market adjusting to the pressure of tourism. The curated comfort of your stay exists within a community that experiences your arrival differently than you do.

This is an analysis of the Airbnb platform and its effects on communities in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, with a population of 10,014,009 per the 2020 Decennial Census conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

designed by freepik
Fig 1. “Neighbors on Balconies Concept,” Freepik.

Table of Contents

Explore the sections below to see how the promise of a “home away from home” is reshaping the very idea of home for millions of Angelenos and how we answer the research question:

Where is Airbnb concentrated in Los Angeles County, and how do these concentrations align with the commodification of different community profiles?

  • About Us

    Angela Huang UCLA ’26 : Project Manager, Web Designer, Content Developer. Angela is a 4th-year undergraduate student specializing in Statistics and Data Science at UCLA. She was responsible for several roles in this project such… more ›

  • About the Data

    Data Cleaning : The Inside Airbnb Los Angeles dataset was last scraped, and subsequently updated, on December 4, 2025 and is the archive version we will be referencing throughout our analysis. The datasets are organized… more ›

  • Chronology

    Word Count: Read Time: more ›

  • Narrative

    Introduction : Once you’ve settled into your home for the next few days, dropped off your bags, and step outside to explore the area where you’ll be staying, what do you actually observe? A quiet… more ›

  • References + Sources

    Word Count: Read Time: more ›

Word Count:

169 words

Read Time:

1–2 minutes
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