Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA MSA
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Greater Los Angeles is the most populous
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, encompassing five
counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
extending from
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
in the west to
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...
and
Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
in the east, with the
city of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...
and
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
at its center, and Orange County to the southeast. The Los Angeles–Long Beach combined statistical area (CSA) covers , making it the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area. The contiguous urban area is , whereas the remainder mostly consists of mountain and desert areas. With an estimated population of almost 18.6 million (California Department of Finance, 2025), it is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, behind
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, as well as one of the largest megacities in the world. In addition to being the nexus of the global entertainment industry, including films, television, and recorded music, Greater Los Angeles is also an important center of international trade, education, media, business, tourism, technology, and sports. It is the third-largest metropolitan area by
nominal GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance ...
in the world with an economy exceeding $1 trillion in output, behind
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. There are three contiguous component urban areas in Greater Los Angeles: the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
, which can be broadly defined as Riverside and San Bernardino counties; the Ventura/Oxnard metropolitan area (Ventura County); and the Los Angeles metropolitan area (also known as Metropolitan Los Angeles or Metro LA) consisting of Los Angeles and Orange counties only. The Census Bureau designates the latter as the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the fourth largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the second-largest
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in the United States, by population of 13 million as of the 2020 U.S. census. It has a total area of . Although
San Diego–Tijuana San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North America, North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2020 popula ...
borders the Greater Los Angeles area at
San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement" ) is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century). Located in the O ...
and
Temecula Temecula (; , ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a tourist and ...
, it is not part of it as the two urban areas are not geographically contiguous due to the presence of
Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...
. However, both form part of the Southern California
megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...
which extends into
Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
, Baja California, Mexico.


Definitions


Los Angeles metropolitan area

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is defined by the U.S.
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...
as the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with a 2021 population of 12,997,353. The MSA is in turn made up of two "metropolitan divisions": * Los Angeles–Long Beach–Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division, coterminous with
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
(2025 population 9,876,811) * Anaheim–Santa Ana–Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division, coterminous with Orange County (2025 population 3,175,427) The MSA is the most populous metropolitan area in the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
and second-most populous in the United States. It has at its core the
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...
urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
, which had a population of 12,237,376 as of the 2020 census.


Greater Los Angeles

The U.S. Census Bureau also defines a wider commercial region based on commuting patterns, the Los Angeles–Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area (CSA), more commonly known as the Greater Los Angeles Area, with an estimated population of 18,584,307 in 2025. The total land area of the CSA is 33,955 sq. mi (87,945 km2). The CSA includes three component metropolitan areas: * The Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA MSA (2025 pop. 13,052,238), consisting of: **
Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...
(2025 pop. 9,876,811) **
Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...
(2025 pop. 3,175,427) * The Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, CA MSA, coterminous with
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
(2025 pop. 829,005) * The
Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA MSA The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Ora ...
(2025 pop. 4,703,064), consisting of: **
Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
(2025 pop. 2,495,640) **
San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...
(2025 pop. 2,207,424)


History

Nearly all of the metropolitan area of Greater Los Angeles is located within the homelands of the
Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...
, otherwise referred to as
Tovaangar Tovaangar (''Tongva'': "the world") refers to the Tongva world or homelands. It includes the greater area of the Los Angeles Basin, including the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, northern Orange County, parts of San Bernardino County and ...
.


Geography


Urban form

Los Angeles has long been famous for its sprawl, but this has to do more with its status in history as the "poster child" of large cities that grew up with suburban-style patterns of development, rather than how it ranks in sprawl among American metro areas today, now that suburban and
exurban An exurb (or alternately: exurban area) is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing-density, and relatively hi ...
-style development is present across the country. The Los Angeles–Orange County metro area was the ''most'' densely populated "urbanized area" (as defined by the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
) in the United States in 2000, with . For comparison, the "New York–Newark" Urbanized Area had a population density of . Los Angeles' reputation for sprawl is due to the fact that the city grew from relative obscurity to one of the country's ten largest cities (i.e. 10th largest city in 1920), at a time when suburban patterns of growth first became possible due to electric streetcars and automobiles. The city was also the first large American city where, in the 1920s, major clusters of regional employment, shopping, and culture were already being built outside the traditional downtown areas – in
edge cities An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...
such as
Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bo ...
, Miracle Mile and
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
. This pattern of growth continued ever outward, more so when the freeway system was built starting in the 1950s; thus Greater Los Angeles was the earliest large American metropolitan area with a
decentralized Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
structure. Its major commercial, financial, and cultural institutions are geographically dispersed rather than being concentrated in a single downtown or central area. Also, the
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
proper is low (approximately 8,300 people per square mile) when compared to some other large American cities such as New York City (27,500),
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
(17,000),
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
(13,300), and
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
(11,800). Densities are particularly high within a 5-mile radius of downtown, where some neighborhoods exceed 20,000 people per square mile. What gives the entire Los Angeles metro region a high density is the fact that many of the city's suburbs and satellite cities have high density rates. Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for having small lot sizes and low-rise buildings. Buildings in the area are low when compared to other large cities, mainly due to zoning regulations. Los Angeles became a major city just as the
Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense but separate cities linked by rail. The ascendance of the
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
helped fill in the gaps between these commuter towns with lower-density settlements. Starting in the early twentieth century, there was a large growth in population on the western edges of the city moving to the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
and out into the
Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle del Conejo'', meaning "Valley of the Rabbit") is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles C ...
in eastern
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
. Many working-class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles. As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the
US 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
corridor. Making the US 101 a full freeway in the 1960s and expansions that followed helped make
commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. Development in Ventura County and along the US 101 corridor remains controversial, with open-space advocates battling those who feel business development is necessary to economic growth. Although the area still has abundant amount of open space and land, almost all of it was put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of the master plan of each city. Because of this, the area which was once a relatively inexpensive area to buy real estate, saw rising real estate prices well into the 2000s. Median home prices in the Conejo Valley for instance, ranged from $700,000 to $2.2 million in 2003. According to
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
, "it's nearly impossible" to find reasonably priced real estate in California, and the prices will continue to increase. The Los Angeles area continues to grow, principally on the periphery where new, cheaper, undeveloped areas are being sought. As such, in these areas, populations as well as housing prices exploded, although the housing bubble popped late in the decade of the 2000s. Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which contain large swaths of desert, attracted most of the population increase between 2000 and 2006. Growth continues not only outside the existing urbanized area but also adjacent to existing development in the central areas. As in virtually all US core cities, there is now vigorous residential development in the downtown area with both new buildings and renovation of former office buildings. The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter. Over the course of the 21st century,
droughts A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
and
wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
have increased in frequency and the region's
water security The aim of water security is to maximize the benefits of water for humans and ecosystems. The second aim is to limit the risks of destructive impacts of water to an acceptable level. These risks include too much water (flood), too little water (d ...
has become a development issue.


Major business districts and edge cities

The traditional business district and historical downtown of Greater Los Angeles is
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
. However, most commercial activity is found outside downtown Los Angeles in the
edge cities An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...
of
Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...
,
Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...
in
Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...
,
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
, the
Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California, United States. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western bord ...
in
West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...
, Universal City, the
Warner Center Warner Center is a master-planned neighborhood and business district development in the Canoga Park and Woodland Hills neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.Station 84(Woodland Hills) an(Canoga Park) serve Warn ...
in Woodland Hills, and
Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...
and Encino, notable for existing alongside extensive suburban development. In fact, the Los Angeles area is considered a classic example of a metropolitan area that developed in such fashion. Furthermore, since the
COVID-19 pandemic in California The COVID-19 pandemic in California began earlier than in some other parts of the United States. Ten of the first 20 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United States were detected in California, and the first infection was confirmed on Janua ...
Downtown Los Angeles has experienced staggering commercial vacancy rates, urban blight, homelessness, drug use, and crime. Entire skyscrapers were reportedly sold for less than large estates in Bel Air. Within the broader
county of Los Angeles Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...
and metro area, areas such as
Downtown Long Beach Downtown Long Beach, California, United States is the location for most of the city's major tourist attractions, municipal services and for numerous businesses. There are many hotels and restaurants in the area that serve locals, tourists, and c ...
,
downtown Pasadena Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or simply Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as th ...
, downtown Glendale, and downtown
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
, Downtown Santa Ana, Downtown Anaheim,
Downtown Riverside Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...
,
Downtown San Bernardino Downtown San Bernardino is a district in the city of San Bernardino, California, in San Bernardino County, United States. It is home to city and county government buildings, and to the city's central business district. The downtown area of San ...
, downtown
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...
, and downtown
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
are notable.


Identity

Employment is not only in the
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
area, but consistently occurs outside the central core. As such, many people commute throughout the city and suburbs in various directions for their work and daily activities, with a large portion heading to the municipalities that are outside the city of Los Angeles. Unlike most metropolitan areas, regional identity remains a contentious issue in the Greater Los Angeles area, with many residents not acknowledging any association with the region as a whole. For example, while Los Angeles County and Orange County together make up the smaller MSA region, the two host many sub-areas that each have sharp demographic, political, and financial distinctions. South Orange County residents often attempt to be identified apart from Los Angeles although they make up the same metropolitan area. Also, while only 1.63% of Los Angeles residents commute to Orange County for work, over 6% of Orange County commuters head to Los Angeles for work. Western Riverside County and San Bernardino County have become commuter regions characteristic of other suburban counties throughout the nation. Residents in these counties often commute to Los Angeles County and Orange County for employment.


Component counties, subregions, and cities


Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County, of which the City of Los Angeles is the county seat, is the most populous county in the United States and is home to over a quarter of all California residents. The large size of the city of Los Angeles, as well as its history of annexing smaller towns, has made city boundaries in the central area of Los Angeles County quite complicated. Many cities are completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles and are often included in the city's areas despite being independent municipalities. For example,
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
and
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
(which is almost completely surrounded by Los Angeles) are considered part of the Westside, while
Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...
and
Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...
are associated with South L.A. Adjacent areas that are outside the actual city boundaries of incorporated Los Angeles but border the city itself include the
Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The western portion of the valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County. The valle ...
, the
San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...
, South Bay, and the
Gateway Cities The Gateway Cities region, or Southeast Los Angeles County, is an urbanized region located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, between the City of Los Angeles proper, Orange County, and the Pacific Ocean. The cluster of cities has ...
. Despite the large footprint of the city of Los Angeles, a majority of the land area within Los Angeles County is unincorporated and under the primary jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Much of this land, however, cannot be easily developed due to planning challenges presented by geographic features such as the
Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...
, the
San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
, and the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
. Actual land development in these regions occurs on the fringes of incorporated cities, some of which have been fully developed, such as the cities of
Palmdale Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
and
Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...
.


Subregions in Los Angeles County

While there is not an official designation for the regions that comprise Greater Los Angeles, one authority, the ''Los Angeles Times'', divides the area into the following regions: * Angeles Forest *
Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...
* Central L.A. (
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
,
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
,
Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bo ...
, etc.) * Eastside *
Gateway Cities The Gateway Cities region, or Southeast Los Angeles County, is an urbanized region located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, between the City of Los Angeles proper, Orange County, and the Pacific Ocean. The cluster of cities has ...
/Harbor Area * Northeast L.A. ( Highland Park,
Eagle Rock Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
, etc.) * Northwest L.A. County (including the
Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The western portion of the valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County. The valle ...
) *
Pomona Valley The Pomona Valley is located in the Greater Los Angeles Area between the San Gabriel Valley and San Bernardino Valley in Southern California. The valley is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The earliest inhabitants of Pomo ...
(partially in San Bernardino County) *
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
*
San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...
*
Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The western portion of the valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County. The valle ...
*
Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...
( Malibu,
Topanga Topanga (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is an unincorporated community in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow southern ...
, etc.) * South Bay (incl.
Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...
,
Beach Cities The Beach Cities are a collection of three independently incorporated oceanfront cities in Los Angeles County south of El Segundo and north of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, comprising the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beac ...
) *
South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...
* Southeast Los Angeles County (including Norwalk and Whittier, see
Gateway Cities The Gateway Cities region, or Southeast Los Angeles County, is an urbanized region located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, between the City of Los Angeles proper, Orange County, and the Pacific Ocean. The cluster of cities has ...
) * The Verdugos (including Glendale,
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
and the
Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California, lying between the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills on the southwest. It opens into the San Fernando Valley at ...
) * Westside Some of the above areas can be defined as being bounded by natural features such as mountains or the ocean; others are marked by city boundaries, freeways, or other constructed landmarks. For example,
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
is the area of Los Angeles roughly enclosed by three freeways and one river: the Harbor Freeway (SR 110) to the west, the
Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego F ...
(
US 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
) to the north, the
Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
to the east, and the
Santa Monica Freeway Interstate 10 (I-10) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Santa Monica, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. The segment of I-10 in California, also known as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway, ru ...
(
I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...
) to the south.Sharon Bernstein and David Pierson,
L.A. moves toward more N.Y-style downtown
", ''Los Angeles Times'', August 8, 2007.
Meanwhile, the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
("The Valley") is defined as the basin consisting of the part of Los Angeles and its suburbs that lie north-northwest of downtown and is ringed by mountains.


Edge cities in Los Angeles County


=Central and Western area

= *
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
/
Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...
*
LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...
/ El Segundo *
Marina Del Rey Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The eponymous harbor is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles ar ...
/
Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...
*
West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...
*
Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bo ...
* Miracle Mile


=San Fernando Valley

= *
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
/
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...
*
Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...
/
Van Nuys, Los Angeles Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 19 ...
*
Warner Center, Los Angeles Warner Center is a Planned community, master-planned neighborhood and business district development in the Canoga Park, Los Angeles, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley in Los An ...
/West
Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...


=Elsewhere in Los Angeles County

= *
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
*South Bay/ Torrance/ Carson *South
Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
/
Covina Covina (Help:IPA/English, /koviːnə/) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
(emerging edge city as of 1991) *
Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...
(emerging edge city as of 1991)


Cities in Los Angeles County

With a population of nearly 3.9 million people at the 2020 census, the City of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
is the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, and is the focal point of the Greater Los Angeles Area. As an international center for finance, entertainment, media, culture, education, tourism, and science, Los Angeles is considered one of the world's most powerful and influential
global cities A global city (also known as a power city, world city, alpha city, or world center) is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that glo ...
. List of the 88 cities of Los Angeles County and six large CDPs by population at the 2020 U.S. census: *
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
(3,898,747) *
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
(466,742) *
Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populo ...
(228,673) * Glendale (196,543) *
Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...
(173,516) *
Palmdale Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
(169,450) * Pomona (151,713) * Torrance (147,067) *
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
(138,699) *
East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...
CDP (118,786) *
Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses * W. & D. Downey, photographic studio * Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools ...
(114,355) *
West Covina West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
(109,501) * El Monte (109,450) *
Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...
(107,762) *
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
(107,337) * Norwalk (102,773) * Compton (95,740) * Carson (95,558) *
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
(93,076) * South Gate (92,726) *
Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...
(88,083) * Whittier (87,306) *
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...
(82,868) * Lakewood (82,496) * Bellflower (79,190) * Baldwin Park (72,176) *
Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Santa Mo ...
(71,576) * Lynwood (67,265) * Montebello (62,640) *
Pico Rivera Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...
(62,088) * Florence-Graham CDP (61,983) * Monterey Park (61,096) * Gardena (61,027) * Arcadia (56,681) * South Whittier CDP (56,415) *
Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The 2020 census listed a population of 55,072. It is one of a few cities in California with a majority Asian population (59.24% as of 2020). It is named after the ...
(55,072) *
Huntington Park Huntington Park is a city located in the South Central region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area includes the separate communities of Florence, California, Florence, Firestone Park, California, Firestone Park, Graham, ...
(54,883) *
Hacienda Heights Hacienda Heights () is an unincorporated suburban community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the community had a total population of 54,191, up from 54,038 at the 2010 census. For statistical purposes, t ...
CDP (54,191) *
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
(53,733) * Glendora (52,558) *
Covina Covina (Help:IPA/English, /koviːnə/) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
(51,268) * Rosemead (51,185) *
Azusa AZUSA refers to a ground-based radar tracking system installed at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center. AZUSA was named after the southern California town Azusa, California where the system was devised in the early 1950s. ...
(50,000) * Cerritos (49,578) *
Rowland Heights Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 48,231 at the 2020 census. Rowland He ...
CDP (48,231) *
La Mirada La Mirada is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California United States, and is one of the Gateway Cities, on the border with Orange County. The population was 48,008 at the 2020 census. The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and ...
(48,008) * Altadena CDP (42,846) * Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Rancho Palos Verdes (42,287) *
Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...
(40,779) * San Gabriel, California, San Gabriel (39,568) * Bell Gardens, California, Bell Gardens (39,501) * La Puente, California, La Puente (38,062) * Monrovia, California, Monrovia (37,931) * Claremont, California, Claremont (37,266) * Temple City, California, Temple City (36,494) * West Hollywood, California, West Hollywood (35,757) * Manhattan Beach, California, Manhattan Beach (35,506) * San Dimas, California, San Dimas (34,924) * Bell, California, Bell (33,559) *
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
(32,701) * Lawndale, California, Lawndale (31,807) * La Verne, California, La Verne (31,334) * Walnut, California, Walnut (28,430) * South Pasadena, California, South Pasadena (26,943) * Maywood, California, Maywood (25,138) * San Fernando, California, San Fernando (23,946) * Calabasas, California, Calabasas (23,241) * Cudahy, California, Cudahy (22,811) * Duarte, California, Duarte (21,727) * Lomita, California, Lomita (20,921) * La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge (20,573) * Agoura Hills, California, Agoura Hills (20,299) * Hermosa Beach, California, Hermosa Beach (19,728) * South El Monte, California, South El Monte (19,567) * Santa Fe Springs, California, Santa Fe Springs (19,219) * El Segundo (17,272) * Artesia, California, Artesia (16,395) * Hawaiian Gardens, California, Hawaiian Gardens (14,149) * Palos Verdes Estates, California, Palos Verdes Estates (13,347) * San Marino, California, San Marino (12,513) * Commerce, California, Commerce (12,378) * Signal Hill, California, Signal Hill (11,848) * Sierra Madre, California, Sierra Madre (11,268) * Malibu (10,654) * Rolling Hills Estates, California, Rolling Hills Estates (8,280) * Westlake Village, California, Westlake Village (8,029) * La Habra Heights, California, La Habra Heights (5,682) * Avalon, California, Avalon (3,460) * Rolling Hills, California, Rolling Hills (1,739) * Hidden Hills, California, Hidden Hills (1,725) * Irwindale, California, Irwindale (1,472) * Bradbury, California, Bradbury (921) * Industry, California, Industry (264) * Vernon, California, Vernon (222)


Orange County

Orange County was originally an agricultural area dependent on citrus crops, avocados, and oil extraction, and became a bedroom community for Los Angeles when Interstate 5 in California, I–5, the Santa Ana Freeway, linked it to the city in the 1950s. The growth of Los Angeles initially fueled population growth in Orange County, but by the 1970s it had become an important economic center in its own right, with tourism and electronics industries, among others. Today, Orange County is known for its tourist attractions, such as the Disneyland Resort, Knott's Berry Farm, its several pristine beaches and coastline, and its wealthier areas, featured in television shows such as ''The O.C.'' None of the original downtowns serves as the central urban core for the county, but there are important clusters of business and culture in Downtown Santa Ana and in three
edge cities An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...
: the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city from the Disneyland Resort to the Orange Crush interchange (Orange, California, Orange, Santa Ana), the South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city (Santa Ana, Costa Mesa,
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...
), and Irvine's Irvine Spectrum Center, Spectrum edge city. Orange County is sometimes figuratively divided into "North County" and "South County", with North Orange County including cities such as Anaheim, California, Anaheim, Fullerton, California, Fullerton, and Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana, and is the older, more ethnically diverse and more densely built-up area both geographically and culturally closer to Los Angeles. South County, defined variously as beginning with either Costa Mesa or Irvine and includes cities to the east and south such as Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, and San Clemente, is more residential, affluent, recently developed, and has a mostly white population. Irvine is an exception, as it is a center of employment and is ethnically diverse. A growing alternative dividing marker between north and south is the El Toro Y interchange. Orange Coast or South Coast area is defined instead as consisting of some or all of the cities lining the coast.


Subregions in Orange County

*Orange County, California#Geography, North Orange County *Orange County, California#Geography, South Orange County


Edge cities in Orange County

*Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city *Fullerton, California, Fullerton/La Habra/Brea, California, Brea (emerging edge city as of 1991) *Irvine Spectrum *Newport Center, Newport Beach, California, Newport Center/Fashion Island (emerging edge city as of 1991) *San Clemente/Laguna Niguel, California, Laguna Niguel (emerging edge city as of 1991) *South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city *Westminster, California, Westminster/Huntington Beach


Cities in Orange County

List of the 34 cities in Orange County by population at the 2020 census: * Anaheim, California, Anaheim (346,824) * Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana (310,227) *
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...
(307,670) * Huntington Beach (198,711) * Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove (171,949) * Fullerton, California, Fullerton (143,617) * Orange, California, Orange (139,911) * Costa Mesa (111,918) * Mission Viejo (93,653) * Westminster, California, Westminster (90,911) * Lake Forest, California, Lake Forest (85,858) * Newport Beach (85,239) * Buena Park, California, Buena Park (84,034) * Tustin (80,276) * Yorba Linda (68,336) * Laguna Niguel (64,355) * San Clemente (64,293) * La Habra (63,097) * Fountain Valley, California, Fountain Valley (57,047) * Aliso Viejo (52,176) * Placentia, California, Placentia (51,824) * Cypress, California, Cypress (50,151) * Rancho Santa Margarita, California, Rancho Santa Margarita (47,949) * Brea, California, Brea (47,325) * Stanton, California, Stanton (37,962) * San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano (35,196) * Dana Point, California, Dana Point (33,107) * Laguna Hills, California, Laguna Hills (31,374) * Seal Beach, California, Seal Beach (25,242) * Laguna Beach, California, Laguna Beach (23,032) * Laguna Woods, California, Laguna Woods (17,644) * La Palma, California, La Palma (15,581) * Los Alamitos, California, Los Alamitos (11,780) * Villa Park, California, Villa Park (5,843)


Inland Empire

The Inland Empire, consisting of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, contains fast-growing suburbs of the region, with a large to majority percentage of the working population commuting to either Los Angeles or Orange Counties for work. Originally an important center for citrus production, the region became an important industrial area by the early 20th century. The Inland Empire also became a key transportation center following the completion of U.S. Route 66 (California), Route 66, and later Interstate 10 in California, Interstate 10. With the post-World War II economic boom leading to rapid development in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, land developers bulldozed acres of agricultural land to build suburbs in order to accommodate the Los Angeles area's expanding population. The development of a regional Southern California freeways, freeway system facilitated the expansion of suburbs and human migration linking the Inland Empire and rest of Greater Los Angeles. Despite being primarily suburban, the Inland Empire is also home to important warehousing, shipping, logistics and retail industries, centered on the subregion's major cities of Riverside, California, Riverside, San Bernardino and
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. While the Inland Empire is sometimes defined as the entirety of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, the eastern undeveloped, desert portions of these counties are not considered to be part of Greater Los Angeles. The state of California defines this area to include the cities of Adelanto, Apple Valley, California, Apple Valley, and Victorville to the north, the Riverside–San Diego county line to the south, and the towns of Anza, California, Anza, Idyllwild, and Lucerne Valley, along with the San Bernardino National Forest to the east. Additionally, the southwest portion of Riverside County, centered on the city of Temecula is more economically linked to San Diego county, with its growth largely being driven by migrants from San Diego seeking more affordable housing similar to how northwestern Riverside county's growth was driven by migrants from Orange County and Los Angeles seeking more affordable housing. However, with clear northern and southern limits to expansion, the region's urban eastern boundaries have become increasingly nebulous as suburban sprawl continues to spread out to form a unified whole with Los Angeles, with further development encroaching past the San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains and into the outlying desert areas. As a result, the regional definition of Greater Los Angeles can now be extended to include Barstow, California, Barstow and surrounding towns in the northeast, the Morongo Basin in the east-central including Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, and the Coachella Valley cities in the southeast. This interconnectivity, provided by one of the most extensive freeway systems in the world, as well as economic, social and media ties, has blended boundaries between these regions and the urbanized Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas.


Subregions in the Inland Empire

* High Desert (California), High Desert (includes
Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...
in Los Angeles County plus Victor Valley and Morongo Basin) * Low Desert (Coachella Valley, Palm Springs and Palm Desert area) * San Bernardino Mountains (Lake Arrowhead, California, Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, California, Big Bear Lake area) * Northwest
Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
(Corona, California, Corona, Norco, California, Norco, Jurupa Valley, and Riverside, California, Riverside area) * Moreno Valley (Moreno Valley and Perris, California, Perris) *
Pomona Valley The Pomona Valley is located in the Greater Los Angeles Area between the San Gabriel Valley and San Bernardino Valley in Southern California. The valley is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The earliest inhabitants of Pomo ...
( Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, California, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, California, Chino, Eastvale, California, Eastvale, Upland, California, Upland, Claremont, California, Claremont, Montclair, California, Montclair, La Verne, California, La Verne and
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
area. Partially in Los Angeles County) * San Bernardino Valley (San Bernardino, Fontana, California, Fontana, Rialto, California, Rialto, Colton, California, Colton, Loma Linda, Highland, California, Highland, and Redlands, California, Redlands area) * San Gorgonio Pass (Banning, California, Banning, Yucaipa, Calimesa, and Beaumont, California, Beaumont area) * San Jacinto Valley (Hemet and San Jacinto, California, San Jacinto area) * Temecula Valley (Lake Elsinore, California, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, California, Menifee, Murrieta, Wildomar, and Temecula area)


Edge cities in the Inland Empire

*Ontario Airport/Rancho Cucamonga, California, Rancho Cucamonga *Riverside, California, Riverside (emerging edge city as of 1991) *San Bernardino (emerging edge city as of 1991)


Cities in Riverside County

List of the 28 cities of Riverside County by population at the 2020 U.S. census: * Riverside, California, Riverside (314,998) * Moreno Valley (208,634) * Corona, California, Corona (157,136) * Murrieta (110,949) * Temecula (110,003) * Jurupa Valley (105,053) * Menifee, California, Menifee (102,527) * Hemet (89,833) * Indio, California, Indio (89,137) * Perris (78,700) * Lake Elsinore, California, Lake Elsinore (70,265) * Eastvale, California, Eastvale (69,757) * San Jacinto, California, San Jacinto (53,898) * Beaumont, California, Beaumont (53,036) * Cathedral City, California, Cathedral City (51,493) * Palm Desert (51,163) * Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs (44,575) * Coachella, California, Coachella (41,941) * La Quinta, California, La Quinta (37,558) * Wildomar, California, Wildomar (36,875) * Desert Hot Springs, California, Desert Hot Springs (32,512) * Banning, California, Banning (29,505) * Norco, California, Norco (26,316) * Blythe, California, Blythe (18,317) * Rancho Mirage, California, Rancho Mirage (16,999) * Canyon Lake, California, Canyon Lake (11,082) * Calimesa, California, Calimesa (10,026) * Indian Wells, California, Indian Wells (4,757)


Cities and towns in San Bernardino County

List of the 24 cities and incorporated towns of San Bernardino County by population at the 2020 U.S. census: * San Bernardino (222,101) * Fontana, California, Fontana (208,393) *
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
(175,265) * Rancho Cucamonga, California, Rancho Cucamonga (174,453) * Victorville, California, Victorville (134,810) * Rialto, California, Rialto (104,026) * Hesperia, California, Hesperia (99,818) * Chino, California, Chino (91,403) * Upland, California, Upland (79,040) * Chino Hills, California, Chino Hills (78,411) * Redlands, California, Redlands (73,168) * Apple Valley, California, Apple Valley (75,791) * Highland, California, Highland (56,999) * Yucaipa (54,542) * Colton, California, Colton (53,909) * Adelanto, California, Adelanto (38,046) * Montclair, California, Montclair (37,865) * Twentynine Palms, California, Twentynine Palms (28,065) * Barstow, California, Barstow (25,415) * Loma Linda, California, Loma Linda (24,791) * Yucca Valley, California, Yucca Valley (21,738) * Grand Terrace, California, Grand Terrace (13,150) * Big Bear Lake, California, Big Bear Lake (5,046) * Needles, California, Needles (4,931)


Sparsely populated areas in the Inland Empire

While the above areas are included in the regional definition of Greater Los Angeles, the U.S. Census Bureau defines Greater Los Angeles, or officially, the Los Angeles–Long Beach Combined Statistical Area, to include both the above-mentioned areas along with the entirety of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. These areas are sparsely developed and are part of the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Colorado Deserts. To the north, Interstate 15 in California, Interstate 15 crosses desolate desert landscape after passing Barstow, linking Greater Los Angeles with Las Vegas, with Baker, California, Baker being the only significant outpost along the route. To the east, lie the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park along with the towns of Needles, California, Needles and Blythe, California, Blythe on the California-Arizona border.


Ventura County

Ventura County is mostly suburban and rural and also has developed primarily through the growth of Los Angeles. Central and southern Ventura County formerly consisted of small towns along the Pacific Coast until the expansion of U.S. Route 101 in California, U.S. Route 101 drew in commuters from the San Fernando Valley. Master-planned cities soon began developing, and the county became increasingly urbanized. The northern part of the county, however, remains largely undeveloped and is mostly within the Los Padres National Forest.


Subregions in Ventura County

*
Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle del Conejo'', meaning "Valley of the Rabbit") is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles C ...
* Oxnard Plain


Edge cities in Ventura County

*Ventura, California, Ventura/Coastal Plain (emerging edge city as of 1991)


Cities in Ventura County

List of the 10 cities of Ventura County by population at the 2020 U.S. census: * Oxnard (202,063) * Thousand Oaks (126,966) * Simi Valley (126,356) * Ventura, California, Ventura (110,763) * Camarillo (70,741) * Moorpark (36,284) * Santa Paula (30,657) * Port Hueneme (21,954) * Fillmore, California, Fillmore (16,419) * Ojai (7,637)


Urban areas within

At the core of the Los Angeles–Long Beach combined statistical area (CSA) lies the Los Angeles–
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
–Anaheim, California, Anaheim, CA
urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
, the second most populous in the United States. Within the boundaries of the CSA the Census Bureau defines 30 other urban areas as well, two of which (Riverside, California, Riverside–San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino and Oxnard, California, Oxnard–Ventura, California, Ventura) form the core of their own metropolitan areas separate from the Los Angeles metropolitan statistical area. Urban areas situated primarily outside the Los Angeles metropolitan statistical area but within the CSA are identified with a cross (†) in the table below.


Demographics

According to the 2020 census, there were 18,644,680 people living in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The racial makeup of the area was 29.4% White (U.S. Census), White (23.0% Non-Hispanic European and 6.4% Non-Hispanic Middle Eastern), 13.8% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian (Non-Hispanic), 0.2% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander (Non-Hispanic), 6.1% African American (U.S. Census), African American (Non-Hispanic), 0.2% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American (Non-Hispanic), 0.5% from Race (U.S. Census), other races (Non-Hispanic), and 3.3% from two or more races (Non-Hispanic). 46.3% of the population were Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic of any race, a super-majority of which was of Mexican American, Mexican origin. 29.4% of the population (5.5 million) was foreign born; most immigrants came from Latin America and Asia. The explosive growth of the region in the 20th century can be attributed to its favorable Mediterranean climate, the availability of land and many booming industries such as oil industry, oil, automobile industry, automobile and rubber, film industry, motion pictures, intermodal freight transport, intermodal, logistics, and aerospace which in turn attracted millions of people from all over the United States and world. Citrus production was important to the region's development in the earlier part of the 20th century. While the New York metropolitan area is presently the most populous metropolitan area in the United States, it has been predicted in the past that Greater Los Angeles will eventually surpass Greater New York in population. Whether this will happen is yet to be seen, but past predictions on this event have been off the mark. A 1966 article in ''Time (magazine), Time'' predicted Greater Los Angeles would surpass New York by 1975, and that by 1990, would reach close to the 19 million mark. But the article's flawed definition of Greater Los Angeles included San Diego, which is actually its own San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA, metropolitan area. A 1989 article in ''The New York Times'' predicted Greater Los Angeles would surpass Greater New York by 2010, but the article predicted the population would be 18.3 million in that year, a number Greater New York already surpassed in 2007 by half a million people. By 2009, the New York metropolitan area had a population of 22.2 million compared to the Greater Los Angeles Area's 18.7 million, about a 3.56 million persons difference. Percentage growth, however, has been higher in Greater Los Angeles over the past few decades than in Greater New York.


Demographics of Los Angeles and Orange counties


Age and gender

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area had a population of 12,874,797, of which 6,402,498 (49.7% of the population) were male and 6,472,299 (50.3% of the population) were female. The age composition is shown in the table at right. Median age: 34.6 years


Race

According to the 2020 census, there were 18,644,680 people living in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The racial makeup of the area was 29.4% White (U.S. Census), White (23.0% Non-Hispanic European and 6.4% Non-Hispanic Middle Eastern), 13.8% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian (Non-Hispanic), 0.2% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), Pacific Islander (Non-Hispanic), 6.1% African American (U.S. Census), African American (Non-Hispanic), 0.2% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American (Non-Hispanic), 0.5% from Race (U.S. Census), other races (Non-Hispanic), and 3.3% from two or more races (Non-Hispanic). 46.3% of the population were Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic of any race, a super-majority of which was of Mexican American, Mexican origin. Non-Hispanic whites make up under one-third (29.4%) of the population, approximately 5,477,462 residents. The top Maps of American ancestries, European ancestries were German Americans, German: 7.0% (1,301,202), English Americans, English: 6.1% (1,131,426), Irish Americans, Irish: 5.4% (1,002,233), Italian Americans, Italian: 3.4% (624,585), Nordic and Scandinavian Americans, Scandinavian: 2.2% (405,887), French Americans, French: 1.5% (284,180), Scottish Americans, Scottish: 1.4% (264,429), Polish Americans, Polish: 1.2% (224,443), and Russian Americans, Russian: 1.0% (189,115). The top Middle Eastern ancestries were Jewish Americans, Jewish: 3.2% (600,000), Armenian Americans, Armenian: 1.2% (214.190), Arab Americans, Arab: 0.98% (182,934), and Iranian Americans, Iranian: 0.75% (139,632). Additionally, 3.3% (611,193) of residents identified as simply American ancestry, American. Values may add to over 100% because people can identify with more than one ethnicity. Approximately 2,577,706 residents are Asian of non-Hispanic origin. Asians of non-Hispanic origin make up 13.8% of the population, about 1.4% South Asian Americans, South Asian (Indian Subcontinent), and about 12.4% were East or Southeast Asian. The six largest Asian ancestries with respect to all of Greater LA's population were Chinese Americans, Chinese: ~ 6.1% , Filipino Americans, Filipino: ~ 3.1%, Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese: ~ 2.0%, Korean Americans in Greater Los Angeles, Korean ~ 1.9%, Indian Americans, Indian ~ 1.1% , and Japanese Americans, Japanese ~ 0.8%. Other important Asian American groups include Cambodian Americans, Cambodian, Laotian Americans, Laotian, Hmong Americans, Hmong, Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese, Pakistani Americans, Pakistani, and Thai Americans, Thai Americans. Non-Hispanic blacks make up 6.1% of the population. Approximately 1,143,781 residents are non-Hispanic blacks. Sub-Saharan Africans were 0.7% (137,443) and Non-Hispanic Caribbean Blacks were 0.3% (62,419). Non-Hispanic Native Americans make up 0.2% of the population (46,143). Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders make up 0.2% of the population. Approximately 42,591 residents are Native Hawaiian or of other Pacific Islander ancestries. The largest Pacific Islander ancestries were Samoan Americans, Samoan, Native Hawaiian, and Guamanian or Chamorro people, Chamorro, and Tongan Americans, Tongan Non-Hispanic Multiracial people make up 3.3% of the population. Approximately 624,473 people are non-Hispanic multiracial. People who listed "other" as their race made up 0.5% (102,434) of the population. Source: data.census.gov. Retrieved on April 15, 2023.


Hispanic or Latino origin

Hispanic or Latinos, who may be of any race, are by far the largest group; Hispanics or Latinos make up 46.3% of the population. They outnumber every other racial group. Approximately 8,630,090 residents are Hispanic or Latino. The largest Hispanic or Latino ancestry was by far Mexican Americans, Mexican, with other important groups being Salvadoran Americans, Salvadoran, Guatemalan Americans, Guatemalan, Honduran Americans, Honduran, Peruvian Americans, Peruvian, Stateside Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican, Colombian Americans, Colombian, and Cuban Americans, Cuban.


Ethnic enclaves

Ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Los Angeles, California, Chinatown, the Byzantine-Latino Quarter, Los Angeles, Byzantine-Latino Quarter, Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles, California, Historic Filipinotown, Little Saigon, Little Armenia, Los Angeles, California, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Los Angeles, California, Little Ethiopia, Little Bangladesh, Los Angeles, Little Bangladesh, Little Moscow (in Hollywood, California, Hollywood), Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, Little Tokyo, Croatian Place and Via Italia in San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro, several Koreatown, Los Angeles, California, Koreatowns, Tehrangeles in
West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...
, the Chinese enclaves in the San Gabriel Valley and Thai Town, Los Angeles, California, Thai Town provide examples of the Multilingualism, polyglot multiculturalism, multicultural character of Los Angeles. Below is a list of many ethnic enclaves present in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.


Politics

Greater Los Angeles is a politically divided metropolitan area. During the 1970s and 1980s, the region leaned toward the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party.
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
, the most populous of the region, is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic stronghold, although it voted twice for both Richard Nixon (1968 and 1972) and Ronald Reagan (1980 and 1984).
Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
,
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...
, and Orange County have historically leaned toward the Republican Party but have started shifting leftward in recent years.
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
is politically divided.


Economy

The Los Angeles metropolitan area has the third-largest metropolitan economy in the world, behind the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York metropolitan area. In 2022, the combined statistical area of Greater Los Angeles (which includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
, and Ventura County, California, Ventura County) had a $1.528 trillion economy. Los Angeles and Orange Counties together have an economy of roughly $1.227 trillion. Important are Real estate bubble, coastal California land values and the rents they command, which contribute heavily to GDP earnings, though there are worries that these high land values contribute to the long-term problem of housing affordability and are thus a possible risk to future GDP increase. This is evident when comparing the coast with the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
, a large component of the five-county combined statistical area (CSA) that nevertheless contributes a far smaller portion to regional gross metropolitan product but still dominates in industry. The Greater Los Angeles CSA is the third-largest List of cities by GDP, economic center in the world, after Greater Tokyo and the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA. Greater Los Angeles is a hotspot for Asian car manufacturers. Specifically, Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi, Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai, American Honda Motor Company, Honda, and Mazda have their U.S. headquarters in the area. Nissan and Toyota were headquartered in the area in the recent past as well. (Nissan moved to Tennessee; Toyota moved to Texas.) The economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area is famously and heavily based on the entertainment industry, with a particular focus on television, film industry, motion pictures, interactive games, and Music industry, recorded music – the
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
district of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas are known as the "movie capital of the United States" due to the region's extreme commercial and historical importance to the American motion picture industry. Other significant sectors include shipping/international trade – particularly at the adjacent Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, together comprising the United States' busiest seaport – logistics – the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
being the largest concentration of warehousing and intermodal facilities in the world – as well as aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion and apparel, and tourism. The City of Los Angeles was previously home to five Fortune 500 companies: energy company Occidental Petroleum (until 2014 when it moved its headquarters to Houston), healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum, engineering firm AECOM, and real estate group CB Richard Ellis. As of 2024, all of these companies have moved elsewhere. Other companies headquartered in Los Angeles include American Apparel, City National Bank (California), City National Bank, 20th Century Studios, Latham & Watkins, Univision, Metro Interactive, LLC, Premier America, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, DeviantArt, Guess?, O'Melveny & Myers; Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Tokyopop, The Jim Henson Company, Paramount Pictures, Sunkist Growers, Incorporated, Tutor Perini, Fox Sports Net, Capital Group Companies, Capital Group, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Korean Air's US passenger and cargo operations headquarters are in two separate offices in Los Angeles. Entertainment and media giant The Walt Disney Company is headquartered in nearby
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
. The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest port in the world, being the center of imports and exports for trade on the west Pacific Coast as well as being one of the most significant ports of the western hemisphere. The Port of Los Angeles occupies of land and water along of waterfront and is the busiest container port in the United States. The Port is the busiest port in the United States by container volume, the 8th busiest container port in the world.''"World Port Rankings – 2005"''
– Port Industry Statistics – American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) – Updated May 1, 2007 – (Microsoft Excel *.XLS document)
''"North American Port Container Traffic – 2006"''
– Port Industry Statistics – American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) – Updated May 14, 2007 – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
FAQ # 22
at the Port of Los Angeles.org
The top trading partners in 2004 were: China ($68.8 billion), Japan ($24.1 billion), Taiwan ($10.8 billion), Thailand ($6.7 billion), & South Korea ($5.6 billion) The Port of Long Beach is the second-busiest container port in the United States. It adjoins the separate Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for U.S.-Asian trade, the port occupies of land with of waterfront in the city of Long Beach, California. The seaport has approximately $100 billion in trade and provides more than 316,000 jobs in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. The Port of Long Beach imports and exports more than $100 billion worth of goods every year. The seaport provides the country with jobs, generates tax revenue, and supports retail and manufacturing businesses.


Economic statistics for Los Angeles and Orange Counties

In 2014, the population of the Long Beach–Los Angeles–Anaheim metropolitan statistical area (MSA) reached 13,262,220 and ranked second in the United States – a 1 percent increase from 2013. In 2014, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim had a Per capita personal income in the United States, per capita personal income (PCPI) of $50,751 and ranked 29th in the country. In 2014, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim placed third among the largest exporters in the United States (shipment totaling to $75.5 billion). The metro accounted for 40.8 percent of California's merchandise exports, mainly exporting computer and electronic products ($18.6 billion); transportation equipment ($15.3 billion) and chemicals ($5.6 billion). Nonetheless, the greater Los Angeles metro has immensely benefited from the free trade agreements: greater Los Angeles exported $25.1 billion to the NAFTA region and $776 million in goods to the CAFTA region. Overall, in 2014 the average wages and salaries reached $57,519 (in 2010, the average wages and salaries reached $54,729). Meanwhile, the median household income in 2014 was $56,935, a 1.4 percent increase from 2013 (average median household income was $56,164). ''Note'': Dollar items are in current dollars (not adjusted for inflation). Per capita items in dollars; other dollar items in thousands of dollars. Table 2 (refer below) is a chart of the four highest sectors in the metro area, with health care and social assistance reaching 15.54%. Table 3 (refer below) displays the location quotient for employment in the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim MSA. Top three sectors include information; art, entertainment, and recreation; and real estate and rental and leasing. (Data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014. Data measures Location Quotient for sectors in the MSA area. U.S. Total is the base areas.)


Utilities and infrastructure

There are nine electric utility power companies in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Southern California Edison serves a large majority of the Los Angeles metropolitan area except for Los Angeles city limits, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Azusa, Vernon, Anaheim, and southern Orange County. Southern Orange County is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and it is served by San Diego Gas & Electric. There are three natural gas providers in the metropolitan area. Southern California Gas Company serves a large majority of the Los Angeles metropolitan area except for Long Beach and southern Orange County. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is served by the following utility companies.


Electricity

* Southern California Edison (largest electric utility in the Los Angeles metropolitan area) * Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (second-largest electric utility in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the largest within the Los Angeles city limits) * Burbank Water and Power * Glendale Water and Power * Pasadena Water and Power * Anaheim Water and Power * Azusa Light & Power * Vernon Light & Power * San Diego Gas & Electric ''(serves southern Orange County, which is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area)'' The only nuclear power plant that serves the Los Angeles metropolitan area is Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in the US state of Arizona 46 miles west of Phoenix. LADWP and Southern California Edison get their electricity from it.


Natural gas

* Southern California Gas Company * City of Long Beach Gas Company * San Diego Gas & Electric ''(serves southern Orange County, which is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area)''


Cable television

* Charter Communications, known as Charter Spectrum (serves a majority of the Los Angeles metropolitan area) * Cox Communications ''(serves parts of Orange County and the Palos Verdes peninsula)''


Phone and Internet

* AT&T * T-Mobile US, T-Mobile * Verizon * Metro PCS * cricket Wireless * Frontier Communications * Charter Spectrum


Medical facilities

Greater Los Angeles is one of the world's largest patient destinations. The Los Angeles Medical Services provide quality medical services and specialty care services to the populations served in compliance with local, state and federal regulations as well as human rights protection.
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and Orange County, California, Orange counties have separate medical service department but both work jointly. Government and Private hospitals open normally Monday through Friday, excluding City Holidays but some speciality hospitals are open year-round. The main healthcare providers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area are Kaiser Permanente, Cedars-Sinai Health System, UCLA Health, Dignity Healthcare, and Providence Healthcare. LA Care and Care1st are also the main providers for those in the metropolitan area that have Medi-Cal.


Events

Major events include: *626 Night Market *Auto Club 400, Inland Empire *BNP Paribas Open *Fashion Week El Paseo, Palm Springs *Holidays at the Disneyland Resort *LA Auto Show *Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters *Los Angeles Film Festival *Newport Beach Christmas boat parade *Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival *Palm Springs International Film Festival *Palm Springs Modernism Week *Rose Parade *Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival *Vans U.S. Open of Surfing


Awards ceremonies

*Academy Awards *Primetime Emmy Awards *Golden Globes *Grammy Awards *Screen Actors Guild Awards


Annual county fairs

* Los Angeles County Fair at Fairplex in Pomona * Orange County Fair (California), Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa * Riverside County Fair and Date Festival


Annual Conventions

* Anime Expo * BlizzCon * D23 Expo * Electronic Entertainment Expo * L.A. Comic Con * Los Angeles Auto Show * NAMM Show * VidCon * WonderCon * RuPaul's DragCon LA


Area codes

* Area code 213, 213 –
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...
, surrounded by 323 (October 1947) * Area code 310, 310/424 –
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, California, Pacific Palisades, Compton, Lynwood, Torrance,
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
, Santa Catalina Island (California), Catalina Island; the southwestern portion of
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
. (Split from 213 on November 2, 1991; Overlay plan, overlaid by Area code 424, 424 on August 26, 2006) * Area code 323, 323 – a ring around downtown Los Angeles, including the Hollywood and Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, Eagle Rock neighborhoods of Los Angeles;
South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...
; the cities of South Gate, Huntington Park, Vernon, California, Vernon, Walnut Park, California, Walnut Park, Florence-Graham, California, Florence, Bell, California, Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, California, Cudahy, Montebello, and
East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...
. (Split from 213 on June 13, 1998) * Area codes 760 and 442, 442/760 – Coachella Valley, including Palm Springs and Indio, California, Indio; Victor Valley, including Victorville and Apple Valley, California, Apple Valley * Area code 562, 562 –
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
,
Downey Downey may refer to: People *Downey (surname) *Robert Downey Jr. Places *Downey, California, US *Downey, Idaho, US *Downey, Iowa, US Businesses * W. & D. Downey, photographic studio * Downey Studios, created out of a former Boeing plant Schools ...
, Whittier; Norwalk, Lakewood, Bellflower,
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
, Cerritos, southeast
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
, and a small portion of coastal Orange County. (Split from 310 on January 25, 1997) * Area code 626, 626 –
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
, Monterey Park,
Rowland Heights Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 48,231 at the 2020 census. Rowland He ...
,
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...
, and
West Covina West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
; the
San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...
, and eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. (Split from 818 on June 14, 1997) * Area codes 714 and 657, 657/714 –
Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...
, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana, Orange, California, Orange, Garden Grove, California, Garden Grove; northern and western Orange County (Overlaid by 657 on September 23, 2008) * Area codes 818 and 747, 747/818 – the cities of
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
, Glendale, San Fernando, California, San Fernando; the North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Panorama City,
Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...
, and Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhoods of Los Angeles; the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
. (Split from 213 on January 7, 1984) * Area codes 805 and 820, 805/820 – Ventura County, including the cities of Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura, California, Ventura * Area code 909, 909 – Southwest
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...
and the far eastern L.A. County suburbs of Pomona, Walnut, California, Walnut,
Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The 2020 census listed a population of 55,072. It is one of a few cities in California with a majority Asian population (59.24% as of 2020). It is named after the ...
, San Dimas, California, San Dimas, La Verne, California, La Verne, and Claremont, California, Claremont. (Split from 714 on November 14, 1992) * Area code 949, 949 –
Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...
, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano; southern and eastern Orange County. (Split from 714 on April 18, 1998) * Area code 951, 951 – Corona, California, Corona, Hemet, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, California, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, California, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Riverside, California, Riverside, Temecula; western end of
Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
. (Split from 909 on July 17, 2004)


Media

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to the headquarters of several well-known media companies including: the Los Angeles Times, Fox Broadcasting Company, Universal Studios, Inc., Universal Studios, and The Walt Disney Company. Local television channels broadcasting to the Los Angeles market include KCBS-TV 2 (CBS), KNBC 4 (NBC), KTLA 5 (The CW), KABC-TV, KABC 7 (American Broadcasting Company, ABC), KCAL-TV 9 (Independent station (North America), Independent), KTTV 11 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox), KCOP 13 (MyNetworkTV), KCET 28, (PBS), KPXN-TV 30 (Ion Television, Ion), KMEX-DT 34 (Univision), KVEA 52 (Telemundo) and KLCS 58 (PBS). Radio stations serving the area include: KKJZ, KIIS-FM, KIIS, KNX (AM), and KMZT (AM), KMZT.


Education


Primary and secondary education

The Los Angeles Unified School District serves the city of L.A., and List of school districts in Los Angeles County, California, other school districts serve the surrounding areas. A number of private schools are also located in the region.


Higher education

Greater Los Angeles is home to List of colleges and universities in Southern California, a number of colleges and universities. The University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles, are among the largest, and the Claremont Colleges and California Institute of Technology are among the most academically renowned. Below is a list of some of the most well known colleges and universities within the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. * Art Center College of Design * Azusa Pacific University * Biola University * California Baptist University * California Lutheran University * California State University, Channel Islands * California State University, Dominguez Hills * California State University, Fullerton *California State University, Northridge * California State University, Long Beach * California State University, Los Angeles * California State University, San Bernardino * California State Polytechnic University, Pomona * California Institute of Technology * Chapman University * Claremont Colleges * Laguna College of Art and Design * Loma Linda University * Loyola Marymount University * Otis College of Art and Design * University of California, Irvine * University of California, Los Angeles * University of California, Riverside * University of Southern California * University of La Verne * University of Redlands * Pepperdine University * Soka University of America * Vanguard University * West Coast University


Transportation

Greater Los Angeles is known for its expansive transportation network. Most notable is its extensive highway system. The area is a junction for numerous interstates coming from the north, east, and south and contains the three principal north–south highways in California: Interstate 5, U.S. Route 101, and California State Route 1. The area is also home to several ports, including the twin ports of Port of Long Beach, Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, which are the two busiest in the United States, as well as Port of Hueneme. Additionally, the region is also served by the Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metrolink (California), Metrolink commuter rail systems that link neighborhoods of Los Angeles with immediate surrounding suburbs and most of the region (excluding the outer region of the Inland Empire) with Oceanside, California, Oceanside in San Diego County, respectively. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the principal international airport of the region and is one of the busiest in the world. Other airports include Ontario International Airport (ONT), John Wayne Airport (SNA), Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), Long Beach Municipal Airport (LGB), and Palm Springs International Airport (PSP).


Historic streetcar network

The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned Public transport, mass transit system in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, it connected cities in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
, Orange County, San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California, Riverside County. The system shared dual gauge track with the Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge Los Angeles Railway, "Yellow Car", or "LARy" system on Main Street (Los Angeles), Main Street in downtown Los Angeles (directly in front of the 6th and Main terminal), on 4th Street, and along Hawthorne Boulevard (Los Angeles County), Hawthorne Boulevard south of downtown Los Angeles toward the cities of Hawthorne, Gardena, and Torrance.


Commercial airports

The primary airport serving the LA metro area is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the busiest airports in the United States. LAX is in southwestern Los Angeles, from Downtown Los Angeles. LAX is the only airport to serve as a hub for all three U.S. legacy airlines —American, Delta and United. In addition to LAX, List of airports in the Los Angeles area, other airports, including Hollywood Burbank Airport, John Wayne Airport, Long Beach Airport, Ontario International Airport, and San Bernardino International Airport also serve the region.


Bridges

The Los Angeles metropolitan area has only one suspension bridge: Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro, and one cable-stayed bridge: Long Beach International Gateway in
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
.


Interstate Highways

* Golden State Freeway/
Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego F ...
/San Diego Freeway (Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5) * Santa Monica Freeway/Rosa Parks Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10 in California, Interstate 10) * Escondido Freeway/Temecula Valley Freeway/Corona Freeway/Ontario Freeway/Mojave Freeway (Interstate 15 (California), Interstate 15) * Glenn Anderson Freeway/Century Freeway (Interstate 105 (California), Interstate 105) * Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110 (California), Interstate 110) * Foothill Freeway (Foothill Freeway, Interstate 210) * Escondido Freeway/Armed Forces Freeway/Barstow Freeway (Interstate 215 (California), Interstate 215) * San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405 (California), Interstate 405) * San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605) * Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710)


U.S. Highways

* Will Rogers Highway (Former U.S. Route 66 in California, U.S. Route 66) * Pacific Highway (United States), Pacific Highway (Former U.S. Route 99 in California, U.S. Route 99) *
Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego F ...
/Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101 in California, U.S. Route 101)


California State Highways

* California State Route 1, State Route 1 * California State Route 2, State Route 2 * California State Route 14, State Route 14 * California State Route 18, State Route 18 * California State Route 19, State Route 19 * California State Route 22, State Route 22 * California State Route 23, State Route 23 * California State Route 27, State Route 27 * California State Route 33, State Route 33 * California State Route 34, State Route 34 * California State Route 39, State Route 39 * California State Route 47, State Route 47 * California State Route 55, State Route 55 * California State Route 57, State Route 57 * California State Route 60, State Route 60 * California State Route 66, State Route 66 * California State Route 71, State Route 71 * California State Route 72, State Route 72 * California State Route 73, State Route 73 * California State Route 74, State Route 74 * California State Route 83, State Route 83 * California State Route 90, State Route 90 * California State Route 91, State Route 91 * California State Route 103, State Route 103 * California State Route 107, State Route 107 * California State Route 110, State Route 110 * California State Route 118, State Route 118 * California State Route 126, State Route 126 * California State Route 133, State Route 133 * California State Route 134, State Route 134 * California State Route 138, State Route 138 * California State Route 142, State Route 142 * California State Route 170, State Route 170 * California State Route 187, State Route 187 * California State Route 210, State Route 210 * California State Route 213, State Route 213 * California State Route 241, State Route 241 * California State Route 261, State Route 261


Los Angeles County Metro

The Los Angeles Metro Rail is the mass transit rail system of Los Angeles County. It is run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its system runs six rail lines throughout Los Angeles County. Metro Rail currently operates four light rail and two rapid transit lines, altogether totaling of rail, 101 stations, and over 360,000 daily weekday boardings . * The A Line (Los Angeles Metro), A Line – light rail * The B Line (Los Angeles Metro), B Line – rapid transit * The C Line (Los Angeles Metro), C Line – light rail * The D Line (Los Angeles Metro), D Line – rapid transit * The E Line (Los Angeles Metro), E Line – light rail * The G Line (Los Angeles Metro), G Line – bus rapid transit * The J Line (Los Angeles Metro), J Line – bus rapid transit * The K Line (Los Angeles Metro), K Line – light rail The system's light rail lines are the List of United States Light Rail systems by ridership, second busiest LRT system in the United States, after Boston, by number of riders, with 200,300 average weekday boardings during the third quarter of 2012. By 2019, it had become the most heavily ridden light rail system in the country. Since the region of the city is in close proximity to a major fault area the tunnels were built to resist earthquakes of up to magnitude 7.5. Both subway lines use an electrified third rail to provide power to the trains, rendering these lines unusable on the other three. The Blue and Gold Lines run mostly at grade, with some street-running, elevated, and underground stretches in the more densely populated areas of Los Angeles. The Green Line is entirely grade separated, running in the median of I-105 and then turning southward along an elevated route. The rail lines run regularly from roughly 4:00 AM to 1:00 AM, seven days a wee


Other authorities

In addition to Metro, other providers provide local service within their jurisdictions. These include the Orange County Transportation Authority, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, and Riverside Transit Agency.


Regional and commuter rail

There are two providers of heavy rail transportation in the region, Amtrak and Metrolink (California), Metrolink. Amtrak provides service to San Diego, Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and points in between on the Pacific Surfliner. It also provides long-distance routes, including the Coast Starlight which goes to the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington; the Southwest Chief which goes to Flagstaff, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kansas City, Missouri and
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
; and the Sunset Limited which provides limited service (three days a week) to Tucson, El Paso, Houston, and New Orleans. Metrolink provides service to numerous places within Southern California, including all counties in the region. Metrolink operates to 67 stations on eight lines within Southern California which mostly (except for the Inland Empire–Orange County Line and Arrow (rail service), Arrow) radiate from Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles Union Station.


Sports


Professional teams

As a whole, the Los Angeles area has more national championships, all sports combined (college and professional), than any other city in the United States, with over four times as many championships as the entire state of Texas, and just over twice that of New York City. It is the only American city to host the summer Olympic games twice: once in 1932 Summer Olympics, 1932, and more recently in 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 (Lake Placid hosted the winter Olympic games twice: once in 1932 and once in 1980). Los Angeles will also be the host of the 2028 Summer Olympics, becoming the third city to host three Olympic Games, after London and Paris.


Table of professional teams and venues

Other professional venues include: * Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Auto Club Raceway, Pomona * Auto Club Speedway * Costa Mesa Speedway * LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium, John C. Argue Swim Stadium * Long Beach Marine Stadium * Los Alamitos Race Course * Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Temporary) * Pico Rivera Sports Arena * Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl * Santa Anita Park * Kia Forum * VELO Sports Center


NCAA Division I college sports

* California Baptist Lancers * Cal State Fullerton Titans * Cal State Northridge Matadors * Long Beach State Beach * Loyola Marymount Lions * Pepperdine Waves * UC Irvine Anteaters * UC Riverside Highlanders * UCLA Bruins (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS) * USC Trojans (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS)


Other sports

The Greater Los Angeles area also has three well-known horse racing facilities: Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Race Course and the former Hollywood Park Racetrack and three major motorsport venues: Auto Club Speedway, Long Beach street circuit, and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. In addition, the city of Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 Summer Olympics, 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984. For over twenty years the Los Angeles area media market lacked a National Football League team. After the 1994 season, the History of the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, and the Los Angeles Raiders returned to their original home of Oakland, California, due to the lack of an up-to-date NFL stadium. After Proposed Los Angeles NFL stadiums, numerous stadium proposals between 1995 and 2016 in an attempt to bring the NFL back, the Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers all submitted plans to relocate back to Los Angeles after the 2015 NFL season. On January 12, 2016, the Rams were approved to move to Los Angeles and build the venue eventually known as SoFi Stadium with the Chargers or Raiders given the option to join them. On January 12, 2017, the Chargers announced their move to Los Angeles to join the Rams. Both teams share SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.


See also

* * California megapolitan areas * List of hotels in Los Angeles * List of metropolitan areas in the Americas


References


Panoramas

{{wide image, Los Angeles Basin from Mulholland Pan.jpg, 900px, The Los Angeles Basin, viewed south from Mulholland Drive. From left to right can be seen the Santa Ana Mountains / Saddleback (Orange County, California), Saddleback (horizon), Downtown Los Angeles, downtown L.A., the Hollywood Bowl (foreground),
Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bo ...
,
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
– Palos Verdes Peninsula, Palos Verdes (background), Santa Catalina Island (California), Catalina Island (horizon), the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Pacific Ocean., 100% Greater Los Angeles, Metropolitan areas of California Regions of California Southern California Tourism regions of California