Sober Living After Rehab in Los Angeles: Is It Better Than an Apartment?

Near the end of a residential program, most people in Los Angeles face the same choice: move into a sober living home, or go back to an apartment, a new place with a sober roommate, or a room at a parent’s house. The apartment almost always sounds better. This guide covers how sober living after rehab works, why many people use it as a first step, when an apartment is a reasonable choice, and how to plan the move before discharge day.

What changes the day you leave treatment

A residential program gives you a daily schedule, a peer group, staff who notice when you don’t show up, and a building with no alcohol or drugs in it. Most of that ends at discharge. If you go straight to an apartment, what is left is a lot of unstructured time, often alone, in a city where alcohol and drugs are easy to find.

Many people find the first months after treatment the hardest part of early recovery. What helps most in that stretch is usually not willpower but surroundings: where you live, who you live with, and whether anyone would notice if things started to slip.

What sober living after rehab keeps in place

A sober living home is a shared, alcohol- and drug-free residence. It is not a treatment program, and it does not provide therapy or medical care; residents who need those go to an outpatient program, a clinician or meetings outside the house. What it keeps from treatment is structure. Most homes have house rules, a curfew at least at first, chores, house meetings and drug and alcohol testing. Many have a house manager who lives on site or checks in often. Residents work, go to school, drive, keep their phones and see family.

Rules, staffing and cost differ a lot from house to house, so ask each home what it actually does. Our list of questions to ask a sober living home covers the main ones.

Comparing the cost of an apartment and sober living

Rent is the obvious cost. In much of Los Angeles a one-bedroom apartment costs more each month than a bed in a sober living home, where listed LA homes typically charge about $800 a month; our cost guide has the details. The cost people tend to leave out is the evenings: the hours between getting home and going to sleep with no one else around. Some people find the first few weeks go smoothly and the harder stretch comes later, once the routine from treatment starts to fade.

A sober roommate can help, but it is not the same as a house with rules. A roommate has their own recovery and their own hard days, and no say over yours.

When an apartment can make sense

An apartment right after rehab is not always the wrong call. Some people do go straight to an apartment. Things worth talking through with your treatment team first:

• How much stable time you had before this treatment stay, and what your team thinks you need now.
• Whether a job or school schedule, a sponsor or support group, and outpatient care if you need it are all running before you move.
• Whether the apartment is away from the people and places tied to your use.
• How much of the appeal is comfort, and what your plan is for the hard nights.

Whatever you decide, go over it with your treatment team before you sign a lease.

How to plan sober living after rehab

Start looking before your last week in treatment. Many homes fill up, and some want an interview or a call with your counselor first. Ask your program’s discharge planner or case manager which homes past clients have used, and check each one yourself.

• Decide on an area first: near your job, outpatient program or family, and away from where you used. Our neighborhood guide can help.
• Call three or four homes, ask about open beds, rent, deposit, rules and testing, and visit if you can.
• If you take prescribed medication, including medication for opioid use disorder, ask each home’s policy before you commit.
• If cost is the barrier, ask your treatment program about LA County’s Recovery Bridge Housing; our guide to free and county-funded sober living explains who qualifies.
• Plan your first week: outpatient appointments, meetings, work and how you will get around.

Many people stay in sober living for several months, build up savings and a routine, and then move to an apartment, sometimes with a housemate from the home. Planning that move ahead of time, rather than leaving early, gives you time to line up support and a place that fits.

Finding a home in Los Angeles

Sober Living California is a free directory of sober living homes. The Los Angeles page lists homes across the county with who each one serves and its published price. You can also browse women’s, men’s and coed homes. Call any home directly, and read our guide on how to check a sober living home before you move in. California’s Department of Health Care Services does not license or certify sober living homes. This site is run by Design for Recovery; homes run by Design for Recovery or by Bridges Sober Living Apartments are labeled “Affiliated with this site” and are listed first.