Demographics of Los Angeles
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A person from Los Angeles is called an Angeleno. The demographics of Los Angeles are determined by population surveys such as the American Community Survey and the United States Census. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
' population was 3,979,576 in 2019.


Race, ethnicity, and national origin

The 1990 United States Census and
2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...
found that non-Hispanic whites were becoming a minority in Los Angeles. Estimates for 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 servi ...
results find
Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
to be approximately half (47–49%) of the city's population, growing from 40% in 2000 and 30–35% in 1990 census. The racial/ethnic/cultural composition of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
as of the 2005–2009 American Community Survey was as follows: *
Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
(of any race): 47.5% *
Non-Hispanic Whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...
: 29.4% *Other: 25.2% *
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
: 10.7% * Black or African American: 9.8% *
Two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
: 2.8% * Native American: 0.5% * Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.2% Approximately 59.4% of Los Angeles' residents were born in the United States, and 0.9% were born in Puerto Rico, US territories, or abroad to American parents. 39.7% of the population were foreign-born. The majority of those born overseas (64.5%) came from Latin America. A large minority (26.3%) were born in Asia. Smaller numbers were born in Europe (6.5%), Africa (1.5%), Northern America (0.9%), and Oceania (0.3%).


Languages

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the linguistic composition of Los Angeles was as follows out of a population of 3,473,790 people over the age of 5: * Language other than English: 59.8% (2,076,235) ** Speak English less than "very well": 30.5% (1,058,358) *
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: 43.6% (1,513,106) ** Speak English less than "very well": 23.2% (806,252) *
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
: 40.2% (1,397,555) *
Asian languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Tur ...
and Pacific Islander languages: 7.9% (275,109) ** Speak English less than "very well": 4.0% (140,058) * Other
Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
: 7.0% (242,461) ** Speak English less than "very well": 2.8% (98,907) * Other languages: 1.3% (45,559) ** Speak English less than "very well": 0.4% (13,141).


Households and educational attainment

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the types of households were as follows out of 1,275,534 total: * Family households: 61.1% (778,991) * With own children under 18 years: 30.9% (394,253) * Married-couple family: 39.1% (498,998) * With own children under 18 years: 19.6% (250,054) * Male householder, no wife present, family: 6.9% (88,600) * With own children under 18 years: 3.0% (38,239) * Female householder, no husband present, family: 15.0% (191,393) * With own children under 18 years: 8.3% (105,960) * Non-family households: 38.9% (496,543) * Householder living alone: 30.2% (385,843) * 65 years and over: 8.0% (102,016) *Households with one or more people under 18 years: 34.6% (441,723) *Households with one or more people 65 years and over: 21.1% (268,624) * Average household size: 2.87 * Average family size: 3.67 According to the same survey, the educational status of residents over 25 years (2,407,775 total) was as follows: * Less than 9th grade: 15.9% (383,385) * 9th to 12th grade, no diploma: 11.1% (267,833) * High school graduate: 21.1% (509,021) * Some college, no degree: 16.7% (402,973) * Associate degree: 5.9% (141,764) * Bachelor's degree: 19.2% (462,701) * Graduate or professional degree: 10.0% (240,098) * Percent high school graduate or higher: 72.9% * Percent bachelor's degree or higher: 29.2%


Income and poverty

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the income status of residents was as follows: * Median household income: $48,610 * Mean household income: $76,557 * Median family income: $53,008 * Mean family income: $83,965 * Median non-family income: $38,227 * Mean non-family income: $61,155 According to the same survey, the poverty status of residents was as follows: * All families: 15.6% * Married-couple families: 10.2% * Families with female householder, no husband present: 30.1% * All people: 18.9% * Under 18 years: 27.8% * 18 years and over: 16.0% * 18 to 64 years: 16.5% * 65 years and over: 12.9%


Employment

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the employment status of residents was as follows * Population 16 years and over: 2,923,315 * In labor force: 65.8% (1,924,833) * Civilian labor force: 65.8% (1,923,236) * Employed: 61.3% (1,792,596) * Unemployed: 4.5% (130,640) * Armed Forces: 0.1% (1,597) * Not in labor force: 34.2% (998,482)


Additional information

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center,
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is the most prevalently practiced religion in Los Angeles (65%). 32% of these 65% belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, 30% to various Protestant denominations and the last 3% to other Christian persuasions (including Orthodox Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons). 25% of the population was not affiliated with any religion (with 4% self-identifying as atheists and another 4% self-identifying as agnostics), 9% of the inhabitants adhered to non-Christian religions (primarily Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism) and a remaining 1% answered 'don't know'. The city has the most Druze living anywhere in the world outside
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
or Syria. The world's largest population of
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n expatriates (est. 20,000) according to the Saudi Embassy of the USA. About 15,000
Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole ( lou, Kréyòl Lalwizyàn, links=no) is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the state of Louisiana. It is spoken today by people who may racially identify as White, Black, mixed, and N ...
persons of Acadian and
Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
background from
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and the U.S. Gulf coast, many live in south-central L.A. alone. In the 1980 and 1990 Census, Bosnians established themselves in fairly large numbers in L.A. before the breakup of the former
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
and Bosnian War of the 1990s. However, Yugoslav immigration was present in Los Angeles and Southern California (i.e. San Pedro, Los Angeles) since the turn of the 20th century.
Salvadoran Americans Salvadoran Americans ( or ) are Americans of full or partial Salvadoran descent. As of 2010, there are 2,195,477 Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the fourth-largest Hispanic community by nation of ancestry.Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Ma ...
which was part of the
Central American Crisis The Central American crisis began in the late 1970s, when major civil wars and communist revolutions erupted in various countries in Central America, causing it to become the world's most volatile region in terms of socioeconomic change. In partic ...
.
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
made an ethnic presence in Silver Lake/Elysian Park and Los Feliz/Hollywood. The city has a sizable Puerto Rican community (50,000 out of 145,000 in California), with just as many in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, the largest west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
and also Puerto Rico. Once a tradition the descendants of original Anglo-American settlers who represented civic leaders and economic influence in the city of L.A. held
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
picnics in MacArthur Park, but that's no longer held since the early 1970s. Many neighborhoods 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. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...
and parts of
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. Incorporate ...
are known for having majority
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...
communities. Persons of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
, Mormons in the
Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...
churches,
Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
with their church-operated Loma Linda University, and the Church of Scientology headquarters are large theological/religious influences in Los Angeles and throughout
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. Los Angeles has the largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese (
Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church (Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particularly ...
) in the US.
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
Indians, among other Native American tribes such as the Apache, Choctaw, Comanche, Hopi,
Muscogee (Creek) The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsNavajo,
Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
,
Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...
,
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
and Zuni made Los Angeles probably have the largest
Urban Indian Urban Indians are American Indians and Canadian First Nations peoples who live in urban areas. Urban Indians represent a growing proportion of the Native population in the United States. The National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) consid ...
population. L.A. along with
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, 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 district. ...
in the turn of the 20th century were one of two earliest world-known
retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
communities to attracted a large number of
senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
s looked for a warmer climate to better fight health ailments. L.A. hosts the fourth largest number of Muslims in the United States. When the estimated 500,000 Muslims living in the greater Los Angeles area are included, Los Angeles hosts the second largest number of Muslims among U.S. cities. There are around 50,000
Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
living in the Los Angeles area, making it one of the cities with the highest Roma concentration in the U.S. More than 1.2 million Los Angeles residents are of Mexican ancestry. Mexican influences can be seen in the city’s culture. Mexican Americans are the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles. Greeks began immigrating to Los Angeles in the 1890s. There was a small population of Greeks living in the Boyle Heights area, along with other immigrant groups including Russians, Syrians, Armenians, and East European Jews by the late 1890s. The History of the Greek Community of Los Angeles
/ref>


See also

* List of notable people from Los Angeles *
Greater 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 ...
*
History of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles Mexican Americans have lived in Los Angeles since the original Pobladores, the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers who founded the city in 1781. People of Mexican descent make up 31.9% of Los Angeles residents, and 32% of Los Angeles County r ...
*
History of Armenian Americans in Los Angeles The Los Angeles metropolitan area has a significant Armenian American population. As of 1990, this single area holds the largest Armenian American community in the United States as well as the largest population of Armenians in the world outside ...
*
History of Chinese Americans in Los Angeles Historically there has been a population of Chinese Americans in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. As of 2010, there were 393,488 Chinese Americans in Los Angeles County, 4.0% of the county's population, and 66,782 Chinese Ameri ...
*
History of Iranian Americans in Los Angeles Los Angeles (and Southern California in general) is home to a large Iranian-American community. Los Angeles is also notable for its very large Iranian Jewish communities in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Encino, and Calabasas. The Iranian populati ...


References

{{Demographics of the United States by state Culture of Los Angeles Geography of Los Angeles Economy of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...