By Macy Meinhardt, V&V Staff Writer, CA Local News Fellow
As San Diego grapples with skyrocketing living costs, a coalition of nonprofits and elected officials gathered Thursday to sound the alarm on the region’s most pressing challenges: affordable housing, childcare, homelessness and food costs.
Working families and marginalized communities are subjected to the harshest realities of today’s cost of living. As rents soar to $2,571 a month and child care deserts leave 190,000 children without options, community leaders warn that the city’s economic future relies on whether policymakers act to protect its most vulnerable residents.
“This year, in the face of unprecedented budget challenges at all levels of government, we asked some of our community partners to join us in calling attention to the cost of those basic needs that lower-income working families and households struggle with,” said Stephen Russell, San Diego Housing Federation President and CEO.
City Councilmembers Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera, as well as representatives from PATH San Diego, Children’s First Collective, Jewish Family Service and City Heights Community Development, were also in attendance to advocate for urgent action.
Housing
The SDHF’s annual San Diego County Housing Needs Report for 2025 shows that in order to afford the average local rent, one would have to make $50 an hour, or three times the minimum wage.
Rents have been outpacing wages for years within the county. For example,
local workers, such as medical assistants, receive $24 per hour while retail workers make about $20 per hour.
This has been following a five-year trend. Since 2020, rent has increased by 25%, adding $506 per month to San Diegans’ cost of living, according to the report findings.
Meanwhile, although San Diego County created and preserved more than 2,000 affordable homes in 2024, more than 135,000 lower-income renters do not live in affordable housing—instead, paying 30% of their income or more towards making rent.
With a potential state budget shortfall looming, advocates are pushing for the Affordable Housing Bond Acts of 2026 to secure long-term funding.
“We believe that in the next two years, the state will be focused on plugging budget holes created by federal actions. This is why it’s critical the County and City’s affordable housing funding continues to rise to meet the overwhelming need,” said Russel.
As San Diego’s budget negotiations for the next fiscal year continue, Councilmember Kent Lee stressed the need to protect local affordable housing programs—including the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, the Eviction Prevention Program, and the Housing Instability Prevention Program—which allow the city to locally control funding.
“It is one of our very last lines of defense to help San Diegans stay in their homes,” said Councilmember Lee. “These are scary and turbulent times, but we want San Diegans to know that we are fighting for you.”
Childcare
For families, the struggle doesn’t end with housing. The Children’s First Collective report reveals that 190,000 children in San Diego lack access to licensed child care.
Today, a family of four must earn $107,000 annually to afford childcare–a $40,000 surplus compared to what the median Black family household in the county makes per year, estimated at around $65,000.
The workforce behind childcare also faces systemic challenges, with the average childcare worker only making $19 an hour.
“Families can’t afford to pay, and childcare workers cannot afford to stay,” said Courtney Baltiyskyy, Children First Collective Co-facilitator and YMCA of San Diego Vice President of Policy and Advocacy.
Homelessness and hunger:
Challenges in housing and childcare collectively intersect with homelessness and food insecurity. PATH San Diego reported that while 2,985 people were housed in early 2025, 3,189 became newly homeless—a net loss.
Meanwhile, Jewish Family Service noted a 20% spike in pantry visits.
“Food security is not just about hunger. When families are given access to housing, healthcare, job support and cash assistance, they can put food on the table and build a foundation to not just survive but thrive,” said Kaley Levitt, Jewish Family Services President of Government Affairs.
These critical services, however, are now at risk as Congress moves to slash $230 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding over the span of 10 years. The cuts, pushed by Republican lawmakers, could devastate food security for over 400,000 San Diegans who rely on CalFresh.
“We encourage all levels of government to invest in food programs and work with community-based organizations to address the root causes of food insecurity,” said Levitt.
A Call to Action
Councilmember Elo-Rivera emphasized that solutions require bold, coordinated investment—from expanding rental subsidies to raising child care wages.
“We have the opportunity at the local level to take action and to protect the people that we care about, to build a community of care that can protect folks from the cruelty at the federal level,” said Councilmember Elo-Rivera.