Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...
, United States, in the South Bay region of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, located south of
downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is a ...
and approximately away from
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...
. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, Carson is the newest municipality in the South Bay region of
Metropolitan Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
. The city is locally known for its plurality of Filipino-Americans and immigrants. As of 2019, it was estimated that the city had a population of 91,394.
History
The year 1921 marked the first drilling for oil at Dominguez Hill, on the northwest side of the Rancho San Pedro (also called Rancho Domínguez), site of the famous battle during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
called the
Battle of Rancho Domínguez
The Battle of Dominguez Rancho or The Battle of the Old Woman's Gun or The Battle of Dominguez Hills took place on October 8th and October 9th, 1846, was a military engagement of the Mexican–American War that took place within Manuel Domi ...
in 1846. The mineral rights to this property were owned by Carson Estate Company, the Hellman Family, the Dominguez Estate Company, and the Burnham Exploration Company of Frederick Russell Burnham. On September 7, 1923, Burnham Exploration partnering with Union Oil brought in the first producer on the site: Callender No. 1-A well at a depth of and . Before long a number of refineries were up and running, with over 350 oil derricks, tank farms, and sprawling industrial complexes becoming a familiar part of the scenery. The principal leases were with
Shell Oil Company
Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,0 ...
and Union Oil of California and the first two wells were located west of Central Avenue and north of Victoria Street. Oil led to an increase in jobs in the community and a subsequent post-war population surge. An average of was produced from each of these wells through 1960.
In 2011, Shell was ordered by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to clean up the Carousel Tract neighborhood after the discovery of
benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms ...
and
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...
gas contamination, as well as soil and groundwater contamination.
In 2021, Carson was subjected to an air pollution event as a result of
hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The under ...
emanating from the nearby
Dominguez Channel
Dominguez Channel is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed March 16, 2011 river in southern Los Angeles County, California, in the center of the Dominguez Watershed of .
...
, and received the nickname "Stinky City".
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
, Carson has an area of . of it is land and of it (1.29%) is water.
Carson is bordered by West Rancho Dominguez on the north, Torrance on the west,
Rancho Dominguez
Rancho Dominguez is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California. Rancho Dominguez is located between the cities of Compton, Long Beach and Carson.
The communities of unincorporated Rancho Dominguez are: Rancho Dominguez, Ea ...
and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporat ...
on the southeast, Rolling Hills Estates, and West Carson on the southwest.
Bixby Marshland
Bixby Marshland is a wildlife area operated by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts in Carson, California, as part of the environmental mitigation of wastewater.
The space is in area and is a restoration of the old Bixby Slough. The o ...
, a 17-acre wetland habitat, is located in Carson.
Climate
Carson experiences a warm-summer
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''Csb''), similar to that of the Los Angeles Basin with noticeably cooler temperatures during the summer due to the nearby Pacific Ocean (which is approximately 6 to 8 miles away). Rainfall is scarce during the summer in Carson but receives enough rainfall throughout the year to avoid Köppen's BSh (semi-arid climate).Carson, like many of the Southern California coastal areas, is subject to a late spring/early summer weather phenomenon called "June Gloom." This involves overcast or foggy skies in the morning which yield to sun by early afternoon.
Demographics
2010
The
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...
reported that Carson had a population of 91,714. The population density was . The racial makeup of Carson was 21,864 (23.8%)
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
(7.7% Non-Hispanic White), 21,856 (23.8%)
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
(2.2% Samoan, 0.2% Guamanian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian), 17,151 (18.7%) from other races, and 4,417 (4.8%) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 35,417 persons (38.6%) (32.6% Mexican, 1.1% Salvadoran, 1.0% Guatemalan, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.3% Cuban, 0.2% Honduran, 0.2% Peruvian, 0.2% Ecuadorian).
The Census reported that 90,411 people (98.6% of the population) lived in households, 1,170 (1.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 133 (0.1%) were institutionalized.
There were 25,432 households, out of which 10,980 (43.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,178 (55.7%) were married couples living together, 4,787 (18.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,761 (6.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. 3,776 households (14.8%) were made up of individuals, and 1,790 (7.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.56. There were 20,726 families (81.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.90.
The population was spread out, with 21,992 people (24.0%) under the age of 18, 9,964 people (10.9%) aged 18 to 24, 23,105 people (25.2%) aged 25 to 44, 24,013 people (26.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 12,640 people (13.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
There were 26,226 housing units at an average density of , of which 19,529 (76.8%) were owner-occupied, and 5,903 (23.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.7%. 68,924 people (75.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 21,487 people (23.4%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 89,730 people, 24,648 households, and 20,236 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,762.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,838.9/km2). There were 25,337 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 25.69% White, 25.41% Black or African American, 0.56% Native American, 22.27% Asian, 2.99% Pacific Islander, 17.98% from other races, and 5.09% from two or more races. 34.92% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race.
There were 24,648 households, out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.9% were non-families. 14.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.59 and the average family size was 3.92.
Age ranges of residents were 28.4% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
According to a 2006 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $60,457, and the median income for a family was $66,468. Males had a median income of $33,579 versus $31,110 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,107. About 7.2% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over. Carson has the distinction of being the only incorporated city in the United States where the black population has a higher median income than the white population.
Mexican (28.9%) and Filipino (19.4%) are the most common ancestries in Carson.
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
(43.7%) and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
(39.3%) are the most common foreign places of birth in Carson.
Economy
Top employers
As of 2021, the top ten employers in the city were:
Former companies
Nissan
, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...
previously had its North American headquarters in Carson. The property consisted of 13 buildings, with a total of of office and light industrial space. One of the buildings, a nine-story tower, had the Nissan logo on it. Vincent Roger of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
The World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
''.
Public Radio International
Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States.
PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...
. May 16, 2014. Retrieved on May 27, 2015. In 2005 a leak revealed that Nissan planned to move its offices to Tennessee. In the summer of 2006, the Nissan headquarters completed the move. Over half of the employees chose to stay in the Los Angeles area.
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporat ...
, Gardena, and Torrance. It was founded as "South Bay College" and then renamed California State University at Palos Verdes. It moved to the City of Carson to meet a significant need for higher education opportunities in the largely black middle class suburbs of Los Angeles. Today it is among the most racially diverse campuses in the United States. The student body does not have a racial or ethnic majority. In 1965, Carson was chosen as the home for the relocating university over the communities of Friendship Park, Fort MacArthur and Torrance.
Carson is also the location of Dignity Health Sports Park, a sports complex including a
soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...
C.D. Chivas USA
Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL), a tennis stadium which hosts the yearly JP Morgan/Chase tennis tournament, and a track and field facility. It is also the training headquarters for the
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF.
The U.S. team h ...
. It opened in 2003, adjacent to CSUDH. The ADT Event Center is the only permanent indoor velodrome in the U.S. In July 2007, the Galaxy signed international soccer superstar David Beckham to the team. In 2011, International Boxing Hall of Fame Promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank began publicizing professional boxing events.
One of the Goodyear Blimps was based in Carson. The 1st and 2nd U.S. and International Aviation Meets was held at the Dominguez Hill Rancho in 1910 and 1911, which featured many blimps and
zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
JCPenney
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gi ...
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
, and
24 Hour Fitness
24 Hour Fitness is a privately owned and operated fitness center chain headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It is the second largest fitness chain in the United States based on revenue after LA Fitness, and the fourth in number of clubs (behi ...
.
Sports
One professional sports team currently plays their home games in Carson;
The Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL played their home games in Carson from 2017 to 2019.
2028 Summer Olympics
Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
,
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...
and
track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...
As Carson has large tracts of undeveloped land, unusual for a city in such close proximity to metropolitan Los Angeles, various plans for the use of the land have been proposed. One such tract of land located at Del Amo Boulevard, west of the 405, attracted particular attention in the past as a potential site for a
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
stadium. An outdoor power center complex called Carson Marketplace was originally planned for the site. In February 2015, however, the Marketplace plans were scrapped in favor of a $1.2 billion NFL stadium, backed by
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...
, that would have hosted both the then-Oakland Raiders and the then-San Diego Chargers. The NFL had previously considered the site as a location for a stadium, but the plans stalled after it was discovered that the site was once used as a toxic waste
dump
Dump generally refers to a place for disposal of solid waste, a rubbish dump, or landfill. The word has other uses alone or in combination, and may refer to:
* Midden, historically a dump for domestic waste
* Dump job, a term for criminal disposal ...
and would require an extensive clean-up operation before construction was legally allowed to commence. In May 2015, the Carson City Council allocated $50 million to clean up the site for either the dual NFL stadium or the originally planned Carson Marketplace as a fallback should the NFL stadium not come to fruition.
On January 12, 2016, NFL owners rejected Carson's bid to host an NFL stadium in favor of the competing bid of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood backed by Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Despite this rejection, the Los Angeles Chargers temporarily played their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson from 2017 to 2019 while waiting for the construction of SoFi Stadium to be completed.
Government
Municipal government
According to the city's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $96.3 million in revenues, $81.8 million in expenditures, $611.4 million in total assets, $129.2 million in total liabilities, and $187.2 million in cash and investments.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporat ...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. The area is within Board District 8. Magnolia Science Academy-3 a public span school (serving grades 6-12) in Carson, is Magnolia Public Schools campus.
Circa 2019 there were plans to open a campus of the charter school Ganas Academy on the campus of the LAUSD public school Catskill Avenue Elementary School, but there was opposition to this move.
Although the
California Academy of Mathematics and Science
The California Academy of Mathematics and Science (CAMS) is a public magnet high school in Carson, California, United States focusing on science and mathematics. Its California API scores are fourth-highest in the state.
Located on the campus ...
Long Beach Unified School District
The Long Beach Unified School District is a school district headquartered in Long Beach, California, United States.
Established in 1885, Long Beach Unified School District now
educates 81,000 students in 84 public schools in the cities of
Lon ...
. The school accepts residents of LBUSD, Compton USD, portions of LAUSD (including sections serving Carson), and other districts.
Infrastructure
Emergency services
Fire protection in Carson is provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department which operates out of Fire Stations 10, 36, 105, 116, and 127. Ambulance transportation is provided by McCormick Ambulance Service Station 17. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Carson Station in Carson.
Health care
The
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (abbreviated DHS and LADHS) operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, and is the United States' second largest municipal health system, after NYC Health + Hospitals.
DHS ope ...
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
operates the Carson Post Office at 21350 Avalon Boulevard and the South Bay Pavilion Station in Suite 116 at 20700 Avalon Boulevard.
Transportation
Prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the city operated the Carson Circuit bus that serves the local community and connects to other bus and rail transit services including the Los Angeles MetroA Line at the
Del Amo Station
Del Amo station is an elevated light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station is located between Compton Creek and Santa Fe Avenue, and elevated over the intersection of Del Amo Boulevard, after which the st ...
. Service was suspended on March 28, 2020. However, their Dial-A-Ride services remained in service during that time.
On September 26, 2021, Long Beach Transit began serving Carson with three new routes. On January 3, 2022, Carson Circuit was reinstated with two revised routes.
Historically, the city was served by the Pacific Electric
Long Beach Line
The Long Beach Line was a major interurban railway operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, California via Florence, Watts, and Compton. Service began in 1902 and lasted until 1961, the last line of the sys ...
.
Notable people
*
Ab-Soul
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...
, rapper and member of group
Black Hippy
Black Hippy is an American hip hop supergroupJustin Bibbins, basketball player
*
Bishop Lamont
Philip Brandon Martin (born October 31, 1978), better known as Bishop Lamont, is an American rapper from Carson, California. He was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label and released one project under the label, eventually le ...
, rapper
*
Chuckii Booker
Eugene Allen Booker, Jr. (born December 19, 1962), known professionally as Chuckii Booker, is an American producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader.
Biography
Booker emerged in the late 1980s as a prominent urban contem ...
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...
(Andre Young, Sr.), rapper/producer, lived in Carson during his middle school years
*
Rocky Fellers
The Rocky Fellers were a Filipino-born pop/rock band discovered by Stanley Kahn in the 1960s, who signed them to Scepter Records. The group was composed of four Filipino brothers: Tony, Junior, Eddie and Albert Maligmat, and their father, Doroteo ...
, pioneer Asian-American pop/rock band of four young Filipino brothers during the 1960s with multiple hits including the 1963 chart-topper "Killer Joe".
*
Vince Ferragamo
Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is an American former gridiron football player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Early years
Born in Torrance, ...
Super Bowl XIV
Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...
, played for No. 1-ranked Nebraska 1976, an Academic All American, was LA City's MVP 1972
* The Game (Jayceon Taylor), rapper, lived in Carson age 7 to 15 while in foster care
*
Courtney Hall
Courtney Caeser Hall (August 26, 1968 – April 29, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and spent the 1998 preseason with the Denver ...
, former San Diego Chargers center and guard 1989–1999
*
Ekene Ibekwe
Ekenechukwu Brian "Ekene" Ibekwe (born July 19, 1985) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player for Urunday Universitario of the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol. He played college basketball for the University of Maryland at College Pa ...
, University of Maryland basketball forward, 2012 and 2016 Olympian (Nigerian Basketball National Team)
* Ras Kass, rapper
*
Baby Keem
Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer. He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape ''Di ...
, rapper
*
Tommy "Tiny" Lister
Tommy Deebo "Tiny" Lister Jr. (born Thomas Duane Lister Jr.; June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020) was an American character actor and occasional professional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 film '' Friday ...
, actor, NCAA shot put champion and former professional wrestler
* A$ton Matthews, rapper
*
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Juanita Millender-McDonald (September 7, 1938 – April 22, 2007) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional dist ...
, Democratic U.S. Congresswoman from 1996 to 2007
* Michael Quercio, musician
* Ray J (Willie Norwood, Jr.), singer/actor
*
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...
, rapper
* Danny Reece, NFL cornerback and punt returner, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976–1980, punt return leader 1979 and 1980
*
Kris Richard
Kris Richard (born October 28, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach f ...
, NFL player and coach
* Albert Robles, mayor of Carson from 2015 until 2020
*
Rex Salas
Rex Salas (born March 16, 1962) is a Grammy and Emmy Award nominated American record producer, songwriter, musical director, and music arranger. Best known in recent years for his work as the musical director for Janet Jackson on several of her t ...
, musician
*
Ashton Sanders
Ashton Durrand Sanders (born October 24, 1995) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of teenage Chiron in the Academy Award-winning film ''Moonlight'' (2016).
Early life
Sanders was born in Carson, California. He attended Grand A ...
, actor
*
Demetrius Shipp Jr.
Demetrius Shipp Jr. (born November 20, 1988) is an American actor. He portrayed rapper and actor Tupac Shakur in the 2017 biopic ''All Eyez on Me (film), All Eyez on Me'', as well as gang leader Tyrone Moore in ''All American (TV series), All Ame ...
, actor
* Gilbert D. Smith, first African-American mayor of Carson
* SoShy, (Deborah Epstein), a French singer and songwriter
* Kia Stevens, also known as Awesome Kong and Amazing Kong in TNA Wrestling, professional wrestler
* Tammy Townsend, television actress
* Wesley Walker, NFL wide receiver, NY Jets 1977-1989
* Elbert Watts, Green Bay Packers defensive back 1986
*
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After making his f ...
, director, producer, and Academy Award-winning actor
* Bob Whitfield, Stanford University graduate, NFL offensive lineman, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars
* Brett Young, football player
Pros vs. Joes
''Pros vs. Joes'' was an American physical reality game show that aired on Spike from 2006 to 2010. The show featured male amateur contestants (the "Joes") matching themselves against professional athletes (the "Pros"; mostly of retired male and ...