Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the most populous non–state-level government entity in the United States. Its population is greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states. At and with 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas, it is home to more than one-quarter of California residents and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States. Its county seat, Los Angeles, is also California's most populous city and the second-most populous city in the United States, with about 3.9 million residents. In recent times, statewide droughts in California have placed great strain on the County’s (and the City of Los Angeles's) water security.

History

Los Angeles County is one of the original counties of California, created at the time of statehood in 1850. The county originally included parts of what are now Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, Tulare, Ventura, and Orange counties. In 1851 and 1852, Los Angeles County stretched from the coast to the state line of Nevada. As the population increased, sections were split off to organize San Bernardino County in 1853, Kern County in 1866, and Orange County in 1889.

Prior to the 1870s, Los Angeles County was divided into townships, many of which were amalgamations of one or more old ranchos. They were:
* Azusa (encompassed the foothill communities east of the San Gabriel River, including present-day Covina and Duarte)
* El Monte (encompassed communities in the Whittier Narrows area, including present-day El Monte, La Puente, as well as Monterey Park)
** Azusa and El Monte Townships were merged for the 1870 census.
* City of Los Angeles (then consisting solely of its four-league Spanish land grant)
* Los Angeles Township (consisted of areas surrounding the City of Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley and present-day West Los Angeles and East Los Angeles. Most of this area has now been annexed to the city of Los Angeles.)
* Los Nietos (consisted of areas south of the Whittier Narrows and Puente Hills south to present-day Long Beach, centered on the early settlement at Los Nietos. Some of this area is now in Orange County.)
* San Jose (consisted of the eastern portions of the county drained by San Jose Creek, including what is now the cities of Pomona, Claremont and Walnut)
* San Gabriel (consisted of the western San Gabriel Valley and foothill communities, including present-day Alhambra and Pasadena. Centered on the Mission San Gabriel)
* Santa Ana (consisted of what is now northern and central Orange County, including what is now Fullerton, Huntington Beach and City of Orange. Centered on Santa Ana).
** For the 1870 census, Anaheim district was enumerated separately.
* San Juan (consisted of what is now southern Orange County. Centered on Mission San Juan Capistrano).
* San Pedro (consisted of the present-day South Bay communities, Compton and western Long Beach. Centered on the wharf of San Pedro. Renamed Wilmington Township by 1870).
* Tejon (consisted of all of northern Los Angeles County and what is now southern Kern County. Centered on Fort Tejon)
** When Kern County was formed, the portion of the township remaining in Los Angeles County became Soledad Township More recently, statewide droughts in California have further strained Los Angeles County’s water security.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which (85%) is land and (15%) is water. Los Angeles County borders of coast on the Pacific Ocean and encompasses mountain ranges, valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and desert. The Los Angeles River, Rio Hondo, Ballona Creek, the San Gabriel River and the Santa Clara River flow in Los Angeles County, while the primary mountain ranges are the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. The western extent of the Mojave Desert begins in the Antelope Valley, in the northeastern part of the county.

Most of the population of Los Angeles County resides in the south and southwest, with major population centers in the Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley, and San Gabriel Valley. Other population centers are found in the Santa Clarita Valley, Pomona Valley, Crescenta Valley and Antelope Valley.

The county is divided west-to-east by the San Gabriel Mountains, which are part of the Transverse Ranges of southern California, and are contained mostly within the Angeles National Forest. Most of the county's highest peaks are in the San Gabriel Mountains, including Mount San Antonio at the Los Angeles- San Bernardino county lines, Mount Baden-Powell , Mount Burnham and Mount Wilson . Several lower mountains are in the northern, western, and southwestern parts of the county, including the San Emigdio Mountains, the southernmost part of Tehachapi Mountains and the Sierra Pelona Mountains.

Los Angeles County includes San Clemente Island and Santa Catalina Island, which are part of the Channel Islands archipelago off the Pacific Coast.

Lakes and reservoirs

* Bouquet Reservoir
* Castaic Lake
* Crystal Lake
* Elizabeth Lake
* Holiday Lake
* Hollywood Reservoir
* Hughes Lake
* Jackson Lake
* Las Virgenes Reservoir
* Malibou Lake
* Morris Reservoir
* Munz Lakes
* Lake Palmdale
* Puddingstone Reservoir
* Pyramid Lake
* Quail Lake
* Silver Lake Reservoir
* Stone Canyon Reservoir
* Tweedy Lake
* Westlake in City of Westlake Village
* Lake Lindero

Major divisions of the county

* East: Eastside, San Gabriel Valley, portions of the Pomona Valley
* West: Westside, Beach Cities
* South: South Bay, South Los Angeles, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Gateway Cities, Los Angeles Harbor Region
* North: San Fernando Valley, Crescenta Valley, portions of the Conejo Valley, portions of the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley
* Central: Downtown Los Angeles, Mid-Wilshire, Northeast Los Angeles

National protected areas

* Angeles National Forest (part)
* Los Padres National Forest (part)
* Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (part)

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

In 2019, the median household income in the county was $72,797.

2010 Census

Los Angeles County had a population of 9,818,605 in the 2010 United States Census. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 583,364 people (i.e., 1,152,564 births minus 569,200 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 361,895 people. Immigration resulted in a net increase of 293,433 people, and migration from within the United States resulted in a net decrease of 655,328 people.

The Race and ethnicity in the United States Census#2010 census, racial makeup of Los Angeles County was 4,936,599 (50%) White, 1,346,865 (13.7%) Asian, 856,874 (9%) African American, 72,828 (0.7%) Native American, 26,094 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 2,140,632 (21.8%) from other races, and 438,713 (4.5%) from two or more races.

Non-Hispanic whites numbered 2,728,321, or 28% of the population. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race numbered 4,687,889 (48%); 36% of Los Angeles County's population was of Mexican ancestry, 3.7% Salvadoran, and 2.2% Guatemalan heritage.

The county has a large population of Asian Americans, being home to the largest numbers of Burmese diaspora, Burmese, Demographics of Cambodia#Overseas Population, Cambodian, Chinese diaspora, Chinese, Overseas Filipino, Filipino, Overseas Indonesian, Indonesian, Korean diaspora, Korean, Sri Lankan diaspora, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese people#Taiwanese overseas, Taiwanese, and Thai people, Thai outside their respective countries. The largest Asian groups in Los Angeles County are 4.0% Chinese, 3.3% Filipino, 2.2% Korean, 1.0% Japanese, 0.9% Vietnamese, 0.8% Indian, and 0.3% Cambodian.

Racial and Ethnic Composition since 1960

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the county is 48.7% White, 11.0% African American, 0.8% Native American, 10.0% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 23.5% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. 44.6% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The largest European-American ancestry groups are German (6%), Irish (5%), English (4%) and Italian (3%). 45.9% of the population reported speaking only English at home; 37.9% spoke Spanish, 2.22% Tagalog language, Tagalog, 2.0% Chinese, 1.9% Korean language, Korean, 1.87% Armenian language, Armenian, 0.5% Arabic, and 0.2% Hindi.

The county has the largest Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American population of any county in the nation: according to the 2000 census, it has more than 153,550 people of indigenous peoples, indigenous descent, and most are from Latin America.

As estimated by the Public Policy Institute of California in 2008, Los Angeles County is home to more than one-third of California's Illegal immigration to the United States, undocumented immigrants, who make up more than ten percent of the population.

Los Angeles County is home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia.

Los Angeles County contains the largest Iranian diaspora, Iranian population outside of Iran of any other county or county equivalent globally.

2000

At the 2000 census, there were 9,519,338 people, 3,133,774 households, and 2,137,233 families in the county. The population density was . There were 3,270,909 housing units at an average density of .

Of the 3,133,774 households 37% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48% were married couples living together, 15% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32% were non-families. 25% of households were one person and 7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.61.

The age distribution was 28% under the age of 18, 10% from 18 to 24, 33% from 25 to 44, 19% from 45 to 64, and 10% 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

Income

The median personal earnings for all workers 16 and older in Los Angeles County are $30,654, slightly below the US median; earnings, however vary widely by neighborhood, race and ethnicity, and gender. The median household income was $42,189 and the median family income was $46,452. Males had a median income of $36,299 versus $30,981 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,683. There are 14.4% of families living below the poverty line and 17.9% of the population, including 24.2% of under 18 and 10.5% of those over 64.
Los Angeles County has the highest number of millionaires of any county in the nation, totaling 261,081 households as of 2007.

The homeownership rate is 47.9%, and the median value for houses is $409,300. 42.2% of housing units are in multi-unit structures. Los Angeles County has the largest number of Homelessness in the United States by state#California, homeless people, with "48,000 people living on the streets, including 6,000 Homeless veterans in the United States, veterans," in 2010.
the number of homeless people in the county increased to nearly 58,000.

Religion

In 2015, there were over two thousand Christian churches, the majority of which are Catholic. Roman Catholic adherents number close to 40% of the population. There were 202 Judaism, Jewish synagogues, 145 Buddhist temples, 38 Muslim mosques, 44 Baháʼí Faith worship centers, 37 Hindu Hindu temple, temples, 28 Tenrikyo churches and fellowships, 16 Shinto worship centers, and 14 Sikh gurdwaras in the county. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has approximately 5 million members and is the largest diocese in the United States. In 2014, the county had 3,275 religious organizations, the most out of all US counties.

Law, government, and politics

Government

The Government of Los Angeles County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law and the Charter of the County of Los Angeles. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of local governments such as the Government of Los Angeles County.

The county's voters elect a governing five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The small size of the board means each supervisor represents over 2 million people. The board operates in a legislative, executive, and Quasi-judicial body, quasi-judicial capacity. As a legislative authority, it can pass ordinances for the unincorporated areas (ordinances that affect the whole county, like posting of restaurant ratings, must be ratified by the individual city). As an executive body, it can tell the county departments what to do, and how to do it. As a quasi-judicial body, the Board is the final venue of appeal in the local planning process, and holds public hearings on various agenda items.

As of 2020, the Board of Supervisors oversees a $35.5 billion annual budget and over 112,000 employees. The county government is managed on a day-to-day basis by a Chief Executive Officer and is organized into many departments, each of which is enormous in comparison to equivalent county-level (and even many state-level) departments anywhere else in the United States. Some of the larger or better-known departments include:

* Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs – offers consumers in the county a variety of services including: consumer and real estate counseling, mediation, and small claims counseling investigates consumer complaints, real estate fraud and identity theft issues. The department also provides small business certifications and helps entrepreneurs navigate the process of opening a business.
* Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services – administers foster care
* Los Angeles County Fire Department – provides firefighting services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities.
* Los Angeles County Department of Health Services – operates several county hospitals and a network of primary care clinics,
* Los Angeles County Department of Public Health – administers public health programs including STD programs, smoking cessation, and restaurant inspection. In the majority of the county LACDPH puts letter grades relating to the food cleanliness and safety of a restaurant in the front window of restaurants.
* Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services – administers many federal and state welfare programs
* Los Angeles County Department of Public Works – operates countywide flood control system, constructs and maintains roads in unincorporated areas
* Los Angeles County District Attorney – prosecutes criminal suspects.
* Los Angeles County Public Defender, Los Angeles County Office of the Public Defender – Defends indigent people accused of criminal offenses.
* Los Angeles County Probation Department
* Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department – provides law enforcement services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 42 cities.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, despite its name, is a County department. Technically it is a state-mandated county transportation commission that also operates bus and rail.

Politics

Overview

Voter registration

In the United States House of Representatives, Los Angeles County is split between 18 congressional districts: In the California State Senate, Los Angeles County is split between 15 legislative districts:
In the California State Assembly, Los Angeles County is split between 24 legislative districts:

On November 4, 2008, Los Angeles County was almost evenly split over California Proposition 8 (2008), Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. The county voted for the amendment 50.04% with a margin of 2,385 votes.

Legal system

The Los Angeles County Superior Court is the county's court of general jurisdiction, while the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California may hear cases where federal jurisdiction is present. Both are headquartered in a large cluster of government buildings in the city's Civic Center.

Historically, the courthouses were county-owned buildings that were maintained at county expense, which created significant friction since the trial court judges, as officials of the state government, had to lobby the county Board of Supervisors for facility renovations and upgrades. In turn, the state judiciary successfully persuaded the state Legislature to authorize the transfer of all courthouses to the state government in 2008 and 2009 (so that judges would have direct control over their own courthouses). Courthouse security is still provided by the county government under a contract with the state.

Unlike the largest city in the United States, New York City, all of the city of Los Angeles and most of its important suburbs are located within a single county. As a result, both the county superior court and the federal district court are respectively the busiest courts of their type in the nation.

Many celebrities have been seen in Los Angeles courts. In 2003, the television show ''Extra'' (based in nearby Glendale, California, Glendale) found itself running so many reports on the legal problems of local celebrities that it spun them off into a separate show, ''Celebrity Justice''.

State cases are appealed to the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District, which is also headquartered in the Civic Center, Los Angeles, Civic Center, and then to the Supreme Court of California, California Supreme Court, which is headquartered in San Francisco but also hears argument in Los Angeles (again, in the Civic Center). Federal cases are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which hears them at its branch building in Pasadena. The court of last resort for federal cases is the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Other statistics

Crime in 2013
* Homicides: 386
* Thefts: 54,971
* Burglaries: 17,606
* Car Thefts: 15,866
* Robberies: 10,202
* Violent Crimes: 20,318
* Rapes: 843
* Assaults: 8,976
* Murders: 297

Ecology

According to the authors of ''Wild L.A.'', a book about urban biodiversity, “Los Angeles is the birdiest county in the country with over 500 recorded species.” L.A.’s amenable climate supports a large number of introduced, tropical and migratory species. Because of the county’s wide range of Biome, biomes it is possible to see desert bighorn sheep and green sea turtles in the same day, without crossing the county line. The range of habitats in the county is “greater than in many states, with mountains, wetlands, desert, ocean, meadows and chaparral, each with its own endemic species.”

Economy

.

Los Angeles County is commonly associated with the entertainment and digital media industry; all five major film studios—Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios—are located within the county. Numerous other major industries also define the economy of Los Angeles County, including international trade supported by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, music recording and production, aerospace and defense, fashion, and professional services such as law, medicine, engineering and design services, financial services. High-tech sector employment within Los Angeles County is 368,500 workers, and manufacturing employment within Los Angeles County is 365,000 workers.

The following major companies have headquarters in Los Angeles County:

Education

The Los Angeles County Office of Education provides a supporting role for school districts in the area. The county office also operates two magnet schools, the International Polytechnic High School and Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. There are a number of private schools in the county, most notably those operated by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The county's public education sector is run by numerous school districts with the Los Angeles Unified School District being the largest one running public schools primarily within the city of Los Angeles and it's immediately neighboring cities.

Colleges

* Antelope Valley College, Lancaster
* Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
* The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles (AICALA), Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica
* Azusa Pacific University, Azusa
* Biola University, La Mirada, California, La Mirada
* California Institute of the Arts, Santa Clarita
* Cerritos College, Norwalk
* Citrus College, Glendora, California, Glendora
* Claremont Colleges, Claremont
** Claremont McKenna College
** Harvey Mudd College
** Pitzer College
** Pomona College
** Scripps College
* Claremont School of Theology, Claremont
* College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
* DeVry University, Long Beach and West Hills, Los Angeles, West Hills (Los Angeles)
* East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park
* El Camino College, Torrance
* Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena
* Glendale Community College (California), Glendale Community College, Glendale
* Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles
* ITT Technical Institute, Culver City, California, Culver City, San Dimas, California, San Dimas, Sylmar, Los Angeles, Sylmar (Los Angeles), Torrance, and West Covina
* Life Pacific College, San Dimas, California, San Dimas
* Long Beach City College, Long Beach
* Los Angeles City College (LACC), Los Angeles
* Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles
* Los Angeles Mission College, Sylmar, Los Angeles, Sylmar (Los Angeles)
* Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, Pasadena
* Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce), Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles)
* Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles
* Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC), Los Angeles
* Los Angeles Valley College, Valley Glen, Los Angeles, Valley Glen (Los Angeles)
* The Master's University, Santa Clarita
* Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles
* Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut

Mt. Sierra College
Monrovia, California, Monrovia
* Occidental College (Oxy), Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles)
* Otis College of Art and Design, Westchester, Los Angeles, Westchester (Los Angeles)
* Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena
* Pasadena City College, Pasadena
* Pepperdine University, Malibu
* Rio Hondo College, Whittier, California, Whittier
* Santa Monica College (SMC), Santa Monica
* West Los Angeles College, Culver City
* Whittier College, Whittier
* WyoTech, Wyoming Technical Institute (WyoTech), Long Beach

Universities

* Abraham Lincoln University (ALU), Los Angeles
* Alliant International University (AIU), Alhambra
* American Jewish University (AJULA), Los Angeles
* Azusa Pacific University, Azusa
* Biola University, La Mirada, California, La Mirada
* California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena
* California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Pomona
* California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), Carson, California, Carson
* California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), Long Beach
* California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), Los Angeles
* California State University, Northridge (CSUN), Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge (Los Angeles)
* Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (Los Angeles)
* Claremont Graduate University (CGU), Claremont
* Loyola Marymount University (LMU), Westchester (Los Angeles)
* National University (California), National University, Los Angeles and Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills
* Pepperdine University, Malibu
* Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier
* Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles
* Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles
* University of Antelope Valley (UAV), Lancaster, California, Lancaster
* University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Westwood, Los Angeles, Westwood (Los Angeles)
* University of La Verne, La Verne
* University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles
* University of the West (UWest), Rosemead, California, Rosemead
* Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU), Pomona
* Woodbury University, Burbank

K-12 schools

;Public school districts

K-12:

* Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District
* Alhambra Unified School District
* ABC Unified School District
* Arcadia Unified School District
* Azusa Unified School District
* Baldwin Park Unified School District
* Bassett Unified School District
* Bellflower Unified School District
* Beverly Hills Unified School District
* Bonita Unified School District
* Burbank Unified School District
* Charter Oak Unified School District
* Claremont Unified School District
* Compton Unified School District
* Covina-Valley Unified School District
* Culver City Unified School District
* Downey Unified School District
* Duarte Unified School District
* El Rancho Unified School District
* El Segundo Unified School District
* Glendale Unified School District
* Glendora Unified School District
* Hacienda La Puente Unified School District
* Inglewood Unified School District
* La Cañada Unified School District
* Las Virgenes Unified School District
* Long Beach Unified School District
* Los Angeles Unified School District
* Lynwood Unified School District
* Manhattan Beach Unified School District
* Monrovia Unified School District
* Montebello Unified School District
* Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District
* Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
* Paramount Unified School District
* Pasadena Unified School District
* Pomona Unified School District
* Redondo Beach Unified School District
* Rowland Unified School District
* San Gabriel Unified School District
* San Marino Unified School District
* Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
* Snowline Joint Unified School District
* South Pasadena Unified School District
* Temple City Unified School District
* Torrance Unified School District
* Walnut Valley Unified School District
* West Covina Unified School District
* Wiseburn Unified School District

Secondary:

* Antelope Valley Union Joint High School District
* Centinela Valley Union High School District
* Chaffey Joint Union High School District
* El Monte Union High School District
* Fullerton Joint Union High School District
* Whittier Union High School District
* William S. Hart Union High School District

Elementary:

* Castaic Union School District
* East Whittier City Elementary School District
* Eastside Union Elementary School District
* El Monte City School District
* Garvey Elementary School District
* Gorman Elementary School District
* Hawthorne Elementary School District
* Hermosa Beach City Elementary School District
* Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary School District
* Keppel Union Elementary School District
* Lancaster Elementary School District
* Lawndale Elementary School District
* Lennox Elementary School District
* Little Lake City Elementary School District
* Los Nietos Elementary School District
* Lowell Joint Elementary School District
* Mountain View School District (Los Angeles County, California), Mountain View Elementary School District
* Mount Baldy Joint Elementary School District
* Newhall Elementary School District
* Palmdale Elementary School District
* Rosemead Elementary School District
* Saugus Union Elementary School District
* South Whittier Elementary School District
* Sulphur Springs Union Elementary School District
* Valle Lindo Elementary School District
* Westside Union Elementary School District
* Whittier City Elementary School District
* Wilsona Elementary School District

Former districts:
* Los Angeles City School District
* Los Angeles City High School District (a.k.a. West County Union High School District)
* South Bay Union High School District

Sites of interest

The county's most visited park is Griffith Park, owned by the city of Los Angeles. The county is also known for the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, the annual Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Arboretum of Los Angeles, and two horse racetracks and two car racetracks (Fairplex, Pomona Raceway and Irwindale Speedway), also the RMS Queen Mary located in Long Beach, and the Long Beach Grand Prix, and miles of beaches—from Zuma to Cabrillo.

Venice, Los Angeles, Venice Beach is a popular attraction whose Muscle Beach used to attract throngs of tourists admiring "hardbodies". Today, it is more arts-centered. Santa Monica's pier is a well known tourist spot, famous for its Ferris wheel and bumper car rides, which were featured in the introductory segment of the television sitcom ''Three's Company''. Further north in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades one finds the beaches used in the television series ''Baywatch''. The fabled Malibu, California, Malibu, home of many film and television stars, lies west of it.

In the mountain, canyon, and desert areas one may find Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, where many old Westerns were filmed. Mount Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains is open for the public to view astronomical stars from its telescope, now computer-assisted. Many county residents find relaxation in water skiing and swimming at Castaic, California, Castaic Lake Recreation Area – the county's largest park by area – as well as enjoying natural surroundings and starry nights at Saddleback Butte State Park in the eastern Antelope Valley – California State Parks' largest in area within the county. The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, California Poppy Reserve is located in the western Antelope Valley and shows off the State's flower in great quantity on its rolling hills every spring.

Museums

* Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California
* Battleship USS Iowa, Battleship USS ''Iowa'', Los Angeles Waterfront in San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro
* SS Lane Victory, Los Angeles Waterfront in San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro, just south of the USS Iowa
* California African American Museum
* California Science Center, Los Angeles (formerly the Museum of Science and Industry)
* The Broad
* Hammer Museum
* Huntington Library, San Marino, California, San Marino
* Long Beach Museum of Art in the historic Elizabeth Milbank Anderson residence
* Los Angeles Children's Museum
* Los Angeles County Fire Museum, in Bellflower
* Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mid-City, Los Angeles
* Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Downtown Los Angeles (founded in 1950); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles#The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Downtown Los Angeles (founded in 1980)
* Museum of Jurassic Technology, Culver City
* Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach
* Museum of Neon Art
* Museum of the American West (Gene Autry Museum), in Griffith Park
* Museum of Tolerance
* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
* Pasadena Museum of California Art, in Pasadena
* J. Paul Getty Center, Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood (Ancient Ancient Rome, Roman, Ancient Greece, Greek, and European Renaissance Art)
* Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Villa, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Getty's original house
* George C. Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits
* Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica (Contemporary art)
* Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (19th- and early 20th-century art)
* Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles
* Southwest Museum

Entertainment

* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
* Descanso Gardens
* Dodger Stadium
* Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Exposition Park
* Los Angeles Farmers Market, Farmers Market
* The Forum (Inglewood, California), The Forum
* Griffith Park
* Griffith Observatory
* Huntington Gardens, Huntington Botanical Gardens
* La Brea Tar Pits
* Los Angeles Music Center, Music Center
* Olvera Street
* Crypto.com Arena
* SoFi Stadium
* South Coast Botanic Garden
* Third Street Promenade
* Venice Beach
* Los Angeles Zoo

Music venues

* California Plaza, comprising One California Plaza and Two California Plaza
* Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
* Crypto.com Arena
* The Forum (Inglewood), The Forum
* Disney Concert Hall
* Greek Theatre (Los Angeles), Greek Theatre
* House of Blues Sunset Strip
* Pantages Theatre (Hollywood), Pantages Theatre
* Hollywood Bowl
* Hollywood Palladium
* John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
* Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles, California), The Orpheum Theatre
* The Roxy Theatre
* Royce Hall (UCLA)
* Music Box Theater (Los Angeles), The Music Box
* El Rey Theatre
* The Troubadour (Los Angeles), The Troubadour
* Wiltern Theatre, The Wiltern
* Whisky a Go Go

Amusement parks

* Universal Studios Hollywood
* Raging Waters, San Dimas
* Six Flags Magic Mountain
* Six Flags Hurricane Harbor
* Pacific Park

Other attractions

Other areas

* Ridge Route
* Angeles National Forest
* Mount Wilson Observatory
* Malibu Creek State Park
* Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park
* Plant 42's Blackbird Airpark and Heritage Airpark
* Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
* Cortes Bank
* Santa Catalina Island
* Mojave Desert
* Saddleback Butte State Park
* Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park
* Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park

Transportation

Major highways

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Air

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westchester district, is the primary commercial airport for commercial airlines in the county and the Greater Los Angeles Area. LAX is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), an agency of the City of Los Angeles.

Other important commercial airports in Los Angeles County include:
* Long Beach Municipal Airport operated by the City of Long Beach.
* Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The following general aviation airports also are located in Los Angeles County:
* County operated airports (Los Angeles County Department of Public Works#Major Divisions, Department of Public Works, Aviation Division)
** Compton/Woodley Airport in Compton.
** San Gabriel Valley Airport in El Monte.
** Brackett Field in La Verne, California, La Verne.
** Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, Los Angeles, Pacoima.
** General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster, California, Lancaster.
* City operated airports
** Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, Van Nuys, also operated by LAWA. Van Nuys Airport sees significant executive jet air traffic.
** LA/Palmdale Regional Airport in Palmdale, California, Palmdale. The airport is a separate facility on the grounds of Air Force Plant 42.
** Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica, which has major executive jet traffic.
** Hawthorne Municipal Airport (California), Hawthorne Municipal Airport, also known as Jack Northrop Field, in Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne.
** Zamperini Field in Torrance, California, Torrance.

The U.S. Air Force operates three airports in Los Angeles County:
* Portions of Edwards Air Force Base, located at the northern edge of the county.
* Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, sharing runways with LA/Palmdale Regional.
* The non-flying Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo.

Rail

Los Angeles is a major freight-railroad transportation center, largely due to the large volumes of freight moving in and out of the county's sea port facilities. The ports are connected to the downtown rail yards and to the main lines of Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe headed east via a grade-separated, freight rail corridor known as the Alameda Corridor.

Passenger rail service is provided in the county by Amtrak, Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink.

Amtrak has the following intercity Amtrak service at Union Station (Los Angeles), Union Station in the city of Los Angeles:
* The ''Pacific Surfliner'' to Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego.
* The ''Coast Starlight'' to San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Oregon, Portland and Seattle, Washington, Seattle.
* The ''Southwest Chief'' to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque, Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City and Chicago, Illinois, Chicago.
* The ''Sunset Limited'' to Tucson, Arizona, Tucson, Houston, Texas, Houston and New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans.

Union Station is also the primary hub for Metrolink commuter rail, which serves much of the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Light rail, subway (heavy rail), and long-distance bus service are all provided by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).

Sea

The county's two main seaports are the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Together they handle over a quarter of all containerization, container traffic entering the United States, making the complex the largest and most important port in the country, and the third-largest port in the world by shipping volume.

The Port of Los Angeles is the largest cruise ship center on the West Coast of the United States, West Coast, handling more than 1 million passengers annually.

The Port of Long Beach is home to the Sea Launch program, which uses a floating launch platform to insert payloads into orbits that would be difficult to attain from existing land-based launch sites.

Catalina Express ferry, ferries link the Catalina Island city of Avalon, California, Avalon to the mainland at San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, San Pedro and Long Beach, as well as Dana Point, California, Dana Point in Orange County, California, Orange County.

Communities

Cities

There are 88 incorporated cities in Los Angeles County. According to the 2018 Estimate, the most populous are:

Unincorporated areas

Census designated places

* Acton, California, Acton
* Agua Dulce, California, Agua Dulce
* Alondra Park, California, Alondra Park
* Altadena, California, Altadena
* Avocado Heights, California, Avocado Heights
* Castaic, California, Castaic
* Charter Oak, California, Charter Oak
* Citrus, California, Citrus
* Del Aire, California, Del Aire
* Desert View Highlands, California, Desert View Highlands
* East Los Angeles
* East Pasadena, California, East Pasadena
* East Rancho Dominguez, California, East Rancho Dominguez
* East San Gabriel, California, East San Gabriel
* East Whittier, California, East Whittier
* Elizabeth Lake, California, Elizabeth Lake
* Florence-Graham, California, Florence-Graham
* Green Valley, Los Angeles County, California, Green Valley
* Hacienda Heights, California, Hacienda Heights
* Hasley Canyon, California, Hasley Canyon
* La Crescenta-Montrose, California, La Crescenta-Montrose
* Ladera Heights, California, Ladera Heights
* Lake Hughes, California, Lake Hughes
* Lake Los Angeles, California, Lake Los Angeles
* Lennox, California, Lennox
* Leona Valley, California, Leona Valley
* Littlerock, California, Littlerock
* Marina del Rey, California, Marina del Rey
* Mayflower Village, California, Mayflower Village
* North El Monte, California, North El Monte
* Pepperdine University, California (CDP), Pepperdine University
* Quartz Hill, California, Quartz Hill
* Rose Hills, California, Rose Hills
* Rowland Heights, California, Rowland Heights
* San Pasqual, Los Angeles County, California, San Pasqual
* South Monrovia Island, California, South Monrovia Island
* South San Gabriel, California, South San Gabriel
* South San Jose Hills, California, South San Jose Hills
* South Whittier, California, South Whittier
* Stevenson Ranch, California, Stevenson Ranch
* Sun Village, California, Sun Village
* Topanga, California, Topanga
* Val Verde, California, Val Verde
* Valinda, California, Valinda
* View Park-Windsor Hills, California, View Park-Windsor Hills
* Vincent, California, Vincent
* Walnut Park, California, Walnut Park
* West Athens, California, West Athens
* West Carson, California, West Carson
* West Rancho Dominguez, California, West Rancho Dominguez
* West Puente Valley, California, West Puente Valley
* West Whittier-Los Nietos, California, West Whittier-Los Nietos
* Westmont, California, Westmont
* Willowbrook, California, Willowbrook

Unincorporated Communities

* Agoura, California, Agoura
* Alla, California, Alla
* Alpine, Los Angeles County, California, Alpine
* Andrade Corner, California, Andrade Corner
* Antelope Acres, California, Antelope Acres
* Antelope Center, California, Antelope Center
* Athens, California, Athens
* Bassett, California, Bassett
* Big Pines, California, Big Pines
* Castaic Junction, California, Castaic Junction
* City Terrace, California, City Terrace
* Cornell, Los Angeles County, California, Cornell
* Del Sur, California, Del Sur
* Del Valle, California, Del Valle
* Firestone Park, California, Firestone Park
* Florence, California, Florence
* Gorman, California, Gorman
* Hillgrove, California, Hillgrove
* Hi Vista, California, Hi Vista
* Indian Springs, Los Angeles County, California, Indian Springs
* Juniper Hills, California, Juniper Hills
* Kagel Canyon, California, Kagel Canyon
* Kinneloa Mesa, California, Kinneloa Mesa
* Largo Vista, California, Largo Vista
* Llano, California, Llano
* Los Nietos
* Malibu Vista, California, Malibu Vista
* Monte Nido, California, Monte Nido
* Neenach, California, Neenach
* Ninetynine Oaks, California, Ninetynine Oaks
* Pearblossom, California, Pearblossom
* Rancho Dominguez, California, Rancho Dominguez
* Sandberg, California, Sandberg
* Sand Canyon, Los Angeles County, California, Sand Canyon
* Seminole Hot Springs, California, Seminole Hot Springs
* Three Points, California, Three Points
* Two Harbors, California, Two Harbors
* Universal City, California, Universal City
* Valyermo, California, Valyermo
* West Whittier, California, West Whitter

Proposed Communities

* Centennial, California, Centennial (planned for 70,000).

:''See
Los Angeles Almanac MAP: Unincorporated Areas and Communities of Los Angeles County
'

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 United States census, 2020 census of Los Angeles County.

† ''county seat''

See also

* List of museums in Los Angeles
* List of museums in Los Angeles County, California
* List of school districts in Los Angeles County, California
* List of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California

Notes

References

External links

*

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

{{Authority control

Los Angeles County, California,
California counties
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles, .
Counties in Southern California
1850 establishments in California
Populated places established in 1850
Majority-minority counties in California