LOS ANGELES — As Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares to address the city, a new report from UCLA paints a stark picture of life in LA County, showing residents are more financially and emotionally strained than ever before.

For 62-year-old Linus Abegg, a longtime LA resident, every paycheck is a balancing act, he says.

“Everything that I am earning, my salary, is basically going to cover the expenses associated with the house,” Abegg said.

Abegg has spent decades working as a mechanic. It’s a stable job, but he said lately the cost of groceries, on top of utility bills and his mortgage, has made it hard to make ends meet.

“Basically, all the foods that we’ve bought have doubled in price. A box of cereal used to be four dollars, now it’s eight dollars, so yeah, I’m feeling it,” he said.

He said his two adult sons, both college graduates with high-paying jobs, are struggling too.

“Both of my sons are making very very good money in my estimation,” he said. “And they still cannot get enough money saved for a down payment... I think the American dream here is really becoming unattainable.”

Stories like Abegg’s are becoming more common, according to the latest quality of life index from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. This year’s overall score — 53 out of 100 — matches the lowest rating in the report’s 10-year history.

According to the survey, cost of living is now the most dominant concern for LA County residents, chosen as the most important issue affecting their lives more than three-quarters of the time.

Former LA City Councilmember and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky led the annual survey that’s conducted within the Yaroslavsky Initiative.

“The reason that people most often give for what informs their cost-of-living rating is the cost of housing,” Yaroslavsky said.

For the first time, the report also included data on the January wildfires that swept through Altadena, Malibu and Pacific Palisades. It found more than 40% of residents know someone affected. And the economic impact was far-reaching — 14% said they lost income due to the wildfires. Latino and lower-income residents were disproportionately affected, according to the survey.

“The story of our survey this year is how broadly the fire impacted people in los angeles county. It’s worth noting because public officials and community leaders and religious leaders — I think need to understand how extensive the trauma of the fires... how far it extended,” Yaroslavsky said.

According to the survey, immigration anxiety is rising again: 44% of those surveyed said they fear that they or someone close to them could be deported. That’s higher than even early 2017, at the start of President Trump’s first term.

However, homelessness, often one of the county’s top concerns, showed a slight shift: fewer people say it’s getting worse, and for the first time in years 10% believe it’s actually improving.

The report also captured residents’ frustration with leadership. Mayor Karen Bass’s favorability dropped to 37%. This comes as bass is set to deliver her state of the city address Monday, where she’ll unveil a new city budget expected to reflect a shortfall.

Despite all of this, however, many residents — including Abegg — believe this economic uncertainty is only temporary.

“I am optimistic, and I would like to... if I can stay here into retirement, I’d like to stay into retirement, but we’ll see how that goes. Kind of going day by day,” he said.

Making ends meet in the city he loves and hoping to one day live comfortably in the place he calls home.