Greater Los Angeles

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget as the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA),[17][18] with a 2021 population of 12,997,353.[19] The MSA is in turn made up of two "metropolitan divisions":

• Los Angeles–Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division, coterminous with Los Angeles County (2021 population 9,829,544)
• Anaheim–Santa Ana–Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division, coterminous with Orange County (2021 population 3,167,809)

The MSA is the most populous metropolitan area in the Western United States. It has at its core the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim corridor, an urbanized area defined by the Census Bureau with a population 12,150,996 at the 2010 census.

The U.S. Census Bureau also defines a wider commercial region based on commuting patterns or megalopolis, the Los Angeles–Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area (CSA), more commonly known as the Greater Los Angeles Area, with an estimated population of 18,490,242 in 2021.[19] The total land area of the CSA is 33,955 sq. mi (87,945 km²).

The CSA consists of three component metropolitan areas:

• The Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA MSA (2021 pop. 12,997,353)
• The Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, CA MSA, coterminous with Ventura County (2021 pop. 839,784)
• The Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA MSA (2021 pop. 4,653,105), consisting of:
  • Riverside County, California (2021 pop. 2,458,395)
  • San Bernardino County, California (2021 pop. 2,194,710)

Many areas are completely filled with houses, buildings, roads, and freeways as observed in Vermont Vista, a Los Angeles neighborhood.

Los Angeles has long been famous for its sprawl, but this has to do more with its status in history as the "poster child" of large cities that grew up with suburban-style patterns of development, rather than how it ranks in sprawl among American metro areas today, now that suburban and exurban-style development is present across the country.[20] In fact, the Los Angeles–Orange County metro area was the most densely populated "urbanized area" (as defined by the United States Census Bureau) in the United States in 2000, with 7,068 inhabitants per square mile (2,729/km²).[21] For comparison, the "New York–Newark" Urbanized Area had a population density of 5,309 per square mile (2,050/km²).

Los Angeles' reputation for sprawl is due to the fact that the city grew from relative obscurity to one of the country's ten largest cities (i.e. 10th largest city in 1920), at a time when suburban patterns of growth first became possible due to electric streetcars and automobiles. The city was also the first large American city where, in the 1920s, major clusters of regional employment, shopping, and culture were already being built outside the traditional downtown areas – in edge cities such as Mid-Wilshire, Miracle Mile and Hollywood. This pattern of growth continued ever outward, more so when the freeway system was built starting in the 1950s; thus Greater Los Angeles was the earliest large American metropolitan area with a decentralized structure. Its major commercial, financial, and cultural institutions are geographically dispersed rather than being concentrated in a single downtown or central area. Also, the population density of Los Angeles proper is low (approximately 8,300 people per square mile) when compared to some other large American cities such as New York City (27,500), San Francisco (17,000), Boston (13,300), and Chicago (11,800).[22] Densities are particularly high within a 5-mile radius of downtown, where some neighborhoods exceed 20,000 people per square mile.[23] What gives the entire Los Angeles metro region a high density is the fact that many of the city's suburbs and satellite cities have high density rates.[24] Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for having small lot sizes and low-rise buildings. Buildings in the area are low when compared to other large cities, mainly due to zoning regulations. Los Angeles became a major city just as the Pacific Electric Railway spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense but separate cities linked by rail. The ascendance of the automobile helped fill in the gaps between these commuter towns with lower-density settlements.[25]

Starting in the early twentieth century, there was a large growth in population on the western edges of the city moving to the San Fernando Valley and out into the Conejo Valley in eastern Ventura County. Many working-class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles.[26] As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US 101 corridor. Making the US 101 a full freeway in the 1960s and expansions that followed helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. Development in Ventura County and along the US 101 corridor remains controversial, with open-space advocates battling those who feel business development is necessary to economic growth.[27] Although the area still has abundant amount of open space and land, almost all of it was put aside and mandated never to be developed as part of the master plan of each city. Because of this, the area which was once a relatively inexpensive area to buy real estate, saw rising real estate prices well into the 2000s.[28] Median home prices in the Conejo Valley for instance, ranged from $700,000 to $2.2 million in 2003.[29] According to Forbes, "it's nearly impossible" to find reasonably priced real estate in California, and the prices will continue to increase.[30]

The Los Angeles area continues to grow, principally on the periphery where new, cheaper, undeveloped areas are being sought.[31] As such, in these areas, populations as well as housing prices exploded, although the housing bubble popped late in the decade of the 2000s. Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, which contain large swaths of desert, attracted most of the population increase between 2000 and 2006. Growth continues not only outside the existing urbanized area but also adjacent to existing development in the central areas.[32] As in virtually all US core cities, there is now vigorous residential development in the downtown area with both new buildings and renovation of former office buildings. The Los Angeles Downtown News keeps a list of ongoing development projects, updated every quarter.[33]

Downtown Los Angeles

Changes in house prices for the area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the Case–Shiller index; the statistic is published by Standard & Poor's and is also a component of S&P's 10-city composite index of the value of the residential real estate market.

Greater Los Angeles has numerous traditional downtowns or central business districts, the largest being Downtown Los Angeles. Other important ones are Downtown Long Beach, downtown Pasadena, downtown Glendale, and downtown Burbank, and – with their county, state and federal government facilities – Downtown Santa Ana, Downtown Riverside and Downtown San Bernardino.

However, most of the commercial activity (office space, retail, hotels, entertainment) is found outside traditional downtowns, among the suburban-style development in clusters known as edge cities. In fact, the Los Angeles area is considered the classic example of a metropolitan area that developed in this pattern, because it did so early in history, starting in the 1920s, and was the city to enter into the top ten of American cities while growing in this pattern.[34]

Employment is not only in the downtown area, but consistently occurs outside the central core. As such, many people commute throughout the city and suburbs in various directions for their work and daily activities, with a large portion heading to the municipalities that are outside the city of Los Angeles.[35]

Unlike most metropolitan areas, regional identity remains a contentious issue in the Greater Los Angeles area, with many residents not acknowledging any association with the region as a whole. For example, while Los Angeles County and Orange County together make up the smaller MSA region, the two have a host of sharp demographic, political, and financial distinctions. Orange County residents often attempt to be identified apart from Los Angeles although they make up the same metropolitan area. Also, while only 1.63% of Los Angeles residents commute to Orange County for work, over 6% of Orange County commuters head to Los Angeles for work.[36] Western Riverside County and San Bernardino County have become commuter regions characteristic of other suburban counties throughout the nation. Residents in these counties often commute to Los Angeles County and Orange County for employment.[37]

Los Angeles County, of which Los Angeles is the county seat, is the most populous county in the United States and is home to over a quarter of all California residents.[38] The large size of the city of Los Angeles, as well as its history of annexing smaller towns, has made city boundaries in the central area of Los Angeles County quite complicated.[39] Many cities are completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles and are often included in the city's areas despite being independent municipalities. For example, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills (which is almost completely surrounded by Los Angeles) are considered part of the Westside, while Hawthorne and Inglewood are associated with South L.A. Adjacent areas that are outside the actual city boundaries of incorporated Los Angeles but border the city itself include the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, South Bay, and the Gateway Cities.

Despite the large footprint of the city of Los Angeles, a majority of the land area within Los Angeles County is unincorporated and under the primary jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Much of this land, however, cannot be easily developed due to planning challenges presented by geographic features such as the Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Mojave Desert. Actual land development in these regions occurs on the fringes of incorporated cities, some of which have been fully developed, such as the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster.

While there is not official designation for the regions that comprise Greater Los Angeles, one authority, the Los Angeles Times, divides the area into the following regions:[40]

• Angeles Forest
• Antelope Valley
• Central L.A. (Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, etc.)
• Eastside
• Gateway Cities/Harbor Area
• Northeast L.A. (Highland Park, Eagle Rock, etc.)
• Northwest L.A. County (including the Santa Clarita Valley)
• Pomona Valley (partially in San Bernardino County)
• San Fernando Valley
• San Gabriel Valley
• Santa Monica Mountains (Malibu, Topanga, etc.)
• South Bay (incl. Palos Verdes Peninsula, Beach Cities)
• South Los Angeles
• Southeast Los Angeles County (including Norwalk and Whittier, see Gateway Cities)
• The Verdugos (including Glendale, Pasadena and the Crescenta Valley)
• Westside

Some of the above areas can be defined as being bounded by natural features such as mountains or the ocean; others are marked by city boundaries, freeways, or other constructed landmarks. For example, Downtown Los Angeles is the area of Los Angeles roughly enclosed by three freeways and one river: the Harbor Freeway (SR 110) to the west, the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) to the south.[41] Meanwhile, the San Fernando Valley ("The Valley") is defined as the basin consisting of the part of Los Angeles and its suburbs that lie north-northwest of downtown and is ringed by mountains.[42]

• Beverly Hills/Century City
• LAX/El Segundo[34]
• Marina Del Rey/Culver City[34]
• Mid-Wilshire[34]
• Miracle Mile[34]

• Burbank/North Hollywood[34]
• Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys, Los Angeles[34]
• Warner Center, Los Angeles/West Valley[34]
• West Los Angeles

• Pasadena[34]
• South Bay/Torrance/Carson[34]
• South Valley/Covina (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]
• Santa Clarita (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]

With a population of nearly 3.9 million people at the 2020 census, the City of Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, and is the focal point of the Greater Los Angeles Area.[43] As an international center for finance, entertainment, media, culture, education, tourism, and science, Los Angeles is considered one of the world's most powerful and influential global cities.[44]

List of cities with populations of 50,000 or more at the 2020 U.S. census:

Aerial view of Newport Beach in Orange County

Orange County was originally an agricultural area dependent on citrus crops, avocados, and oil extraction, and became a bedroom community for Los Angeles when I–5, the Santa Ana Freeway, linked it to the city in the 1950s. The growth of Los Angeles initially fueled population growth in Orange County, but by the 1970s it had become an important economic center in its own right, with tourism and electronics industries, among others. Today, Orange County is known for its tourist attractions, such as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, its several pristine beaches and coastline, and its wealthier areas, featured in television shows such as The O.C. No one of the original downtowns serves as the central urban core for the county, but there are important clusters of business and culture in Downtown Santa Ana and in three edge cities: the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city from Disneyland to the Orange Crush interchange (Orange, Santa Ana), the South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city (Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Irvine), and Irvine's Spectrum edge city.

Orange County is sometimes figuratively divided into "North County" and "South County", with North Orange County including cities such as Anaheim, Fullerton, and Santa Ana, and is the older, more ethnically diverse and more densely built-up area closer to Los Angeles. South County, defined variously as beginning with either Costa Mesa[45] or Irvine[46] and includes cities to the east and south such as Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, and San Clemente, is more residential, affluent, recently developed, and has a mostly white population. Irvine is an exception, as it is a center of employment and is ethnically diverse. A growing alternative dividing marker between north and south is the El Toro Y interchange. Orange Coast or South Coast area is defined instead, consisting of some or all of the cities lining the coast.

• North Orange County
• South Orange County

• Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city[34]
• Fullerton/La Habra/Brea (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]
• Irvine Spectrum[34]
• Newport Center/Fashion Island (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]
• San Clemente/Laguna Niguel (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]
• South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city[34]
• Westminster/Huntington Beach[34]

Cities in Orange County with a population of 50,000 or more at the 2020 census:

San Bernardino Valley

The Inland Empire, consisting of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, contains fast-growing suburbs of the region, with a large to majority percentage of the working population commuting to either Los Angeles or Orange Counties for work. Originally an important center for citrus production, the region became an important industrial area by the early 20th century.[47][48][49] The Inland Empire also became a key transportation center following the completion of Route 66, and later Interstate 10. With the post-World War II economic boom leading to rapid development in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, land developers bulldozed acres of agricultural land to build suburbs in order to accommodate the Los Angeles area's expanding population.[47] The development of a regional freeway system facilitated the expansion of suburbs and human migration linking the Inland Empire and rest of Greater Los Angeles. Despite being primarily suburban, the Inland Empire is also home to important warehousing, shipping, logistics and retail industries, centered on the subregion's major cities of Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario.

While the Inland Empire is sometimes defined as the entirety of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, the eastern undeveloped, desert portions of these counties are not considered to be part of Greater Los Angeles. The state of California defines this area to include the cities of Adelanto, Apple Valley, and Victorville to the north, the Riverside–San Diego county line to the south, and the towns of Anza, Idyllwild, and Lucerne Valley, along with the San Bernardino National Forest to the east.[50] However, with clear northern and southern limits to expansion, the region's urban eastern boundaries have become increasingly nebulous as suburban sprawl continues to spread out to form a unified whole with Los Angeles, with further development encroaching past the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains and into the outlying desert areas. As a result, the regional definition of Greater Los Angeles can now be extended to include Barstow and surrounding towns in the northeast, the Morongo Basin in the east-central including Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, and the Coachella Valley cities in the southeast. This interconnectivity, provided by one of the most extensive freeway systems in the world, as well as economic, social and media ties, has blended boundaries between these regions and the urbanized Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas.[51]

• High Desert (includes Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County plus Victor Valley and Morongo Basin)
• Low Desert (Coachella Valley, Palm Springs and Palm Desert area)
• San Bernardino Mountains (Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake area)
• Northwest Riverside County (Corona, Norco, Jurupa Valley, and Riverside area)
• Moreno Valley (Moreno Valley and Perris)
• Pomona Valley (Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, Eastvale, Upland, Claremont, Montclair, La Verne and Ontario area. Partially in Los Angeles County)
• San Bernardino Valley (San Bernardino, Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Loma Linda, Highland, and Redlands area)
• San Gorgonio Pass (Banning, Yucaipa, Calimesa, and Beaumont area)
• San Jacinto Valley (Hemet and San Jacinto area)
• Temecula Valley (Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Wildomar, and Temecula area)

• Ontario Airport/Rancho Cucamonga[34]
• Riverside (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]
• San Bernardino (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]

List of cities with populations of 50,000 or more at the 2020 U.S. census:

While the above areas are included in the regional definition of Greater Los Angeles, the U.S. Census Bureau defines Greater Los Angeles, or officially, the Los Angeles-Long Beach Combined Statistical Area, to include both the above-mentioned areas along with the entirety of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.[52] These areas are sparsely developed and are part of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. To the north, Interstate 15 crosses desolate desert landscape after passing Barstow, linking Greater Los Angeles with Las Vegas, with Baker being the only significant outpost along the route. To the east, lie the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park along with the towns of Needles and Blythe on the California-Arizona border.

The Ventura coast

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

• Conejo Valley
• Oxnard Plain

• Ventura/Coastal Plain (emerging edge city as of 1991)[34]

Within the metropolitan areas the Census Bureau defines the following urbanized areas:

Central Los Angeles and the Westside, as viewed from the Getty Center in the Santa Monica Mountains. San Gabriel Mountains at back left, Downtown Los Angeles skyline at center-left, Century City and Westwood in the foreground and to their right, the 405 Freeway. The Brentwood skyline, the hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula at back right and the Pacific Ocean at far right.

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

Median age: 34.6 years

According to the survey, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area was 54.6% White (32.2% non-Hispanic White alone), 7.0% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 13.9% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 20.6% from Some other race, and 3.2% from Two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 44.8% of the population.

Whites are the racial majority; whites (both Hispanic and non-Hispanic) make up 54.6% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites make up under one-third (32.2%) of the population. Approximately 7,028,533 residents are white, of which 4,150,426 are non-Hispanic whites. The top five European ancestries were German: 6.9% (883,124), Irish: 5.3% (786,541), English: 4.8% (619,364), Italian: 3.3% (425,056), and French: 1.6% (204,635).

Asians make up 13.9% of the population, the largest racial minority, since Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity of any race. Asians of non-Hispanic origin make up 13.7% of the population. Approximately 1,790,140 residents are Asian, of which 1,770,225 are Asians of non-Hispanic origin. The six Asian ancestries mentioned were Filipino: 3.5% (454,086), Chinese: 3.0% (390,192), Korean: 2.1% (274,288), Vietnamese: 2.0% (254,353), Japanese: 1.0% (134,466) and Indian: 0.9% (116,090). "Other Asian" is an additional category that includes people who did not identify themselves as any of the groups above. This group includes people of Cambodian, Laotian, Pakistani, Burmese, Taiwanese, and Thai descent, among others. Approximately 166,665 people are in this category, and they make up 1.3% of the population.

African Americans or Blacks make up 7.0% of the population. Non-Hispanic blacks make up 6.7% of the population. Approximately 895,931 residents are black, of which 864,737 are non-Hispanic blacks. In the survey, 136,024 people identified their ancestry as "Sub-Saharan African", equal to 1.1% of the population.

Native Americans make up 0.5% of the population (68,822), with those of non-Hispanic origin making up 0.2% (26,134). Approximately 3,872 Cherokee, 1,679 Navajo, 1,000 Chippewa, and 965 Sioux reside in the area.

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders make up 0.3% of the population. Approximately 37,719 residents are Native Hawaiian or of other Pacific Islander ancestries, of which 33,982 are of non-Hispanic origin. The three Pacific Islander ancestries mentioned were Samoan: 0.1% (13,519), Native Hawaiian: 0.1% (6,855), and Guamanian or Chamorro: <0.1% (4,581). "Other Pacific Islander" is an additional category that includes people who did not identify themselves as any of the groups above. This group includes people of Fijian and Tongan descent, among others. Approximately 12,764 people are in this category, and they make up 0.1% of the population.

Multiracial people make up 3.2% of the population, of which 1.8% were of non-Hispanic origin. Approximately 405,568 people are multiracial, of which 228,238 are of non-Hispanic origin. The four multiracial ancestries mentioned were White and Asian: 0.8% (107,585), White and American Indian: 0.4% (55,960), White and Black or African American: 0.4% (53,476), and Black or African American and American Indian: 0.1% (12,661).

Hispanic or Latinos, who may be of any race, are by far, the largest minority group; Hispanics or Latinos make up 44.8% of the population. They outnumber every other racial group. Approximately 5,763,181 residents are Hispanic or Latino. The three Hispanic or Latino ancestries mentioned were Mexican: 35.5% (4,570,776), Puerto Rican: 0.4% (48,780), and Cuban: 0.4%, (47,056). "Other Hispanic or Latino" is an additional category that includes people who did not identify themselves as any of the groups above. This group include people of Costa Rican, Salvadoran, and Colombian descent, among others. Approximately 1,096,569 people are in this category, and they make up 8.5% of the population.

Source: Factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on July 29, 2013. Part 1: American FactFinder Archived December 13, 2012, at archive.today. Part 2: American FactFinder Archived July 19, 2011, at archive.today.

In 2014, the population of the Long Beach–Los Angeles–Anaheim metropolitan statistical area (MSA) reached 13,262,220 and ranked second in the United States – a 1 percent increase from 2013.[70] In 2014, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $50,751 and ranked 29th in the country.

In 2014, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim placed third among the largest exporters in the United States (shipment totaling to $75.5 billion). The metro accounted for 40.8 percent of California's merchandise exports, mainly exporting computer and electronic products ($18.6 billion); transportation equipment ($15.3 billion) and chemicals ($5.6 billion). Nonetheless, the greater Los Angeles metro has immensely benefited from the free trade agreements: greater Los Angeles exported $25.1 billion to the NAFTA region and $776 million in goods to the CAFTA region.

Overall, in 2014 the average wages and salaries reached $57,519 (in 2010, the average wages and salaries reached $54,729).[71] Meanwhile, the median household income in 2014 was $56,935, a 1.4 percent increase from 2013 (average median household income was $56,164).[72]

Note: Dollar items are in current dollars (not adjusted for inflation). Per capita items in dollars; other dollar items in thousands of dollars.

Table 2 (refer below) is a chart of the four highest sectors in the metro area, with health care and social assistance reaching 15.54%.

Table 3 (refer below) displays the location quotient for employment in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA. Top three sectors include information; art, entertainment, and recreation; and real estate and rental and leasing. (Data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014. Data measures Location Quotient for sectors in the MSA area. U.S. Total is the base areas.[73])

• Southern California Edison (largest electric utility in the Los Angeles metropolitan area)
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (second-largest electric utility in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the largest within the Los Angeles city limits)
• Burbank Water and Power
• Glendale Water and Power
• Pasadena Water and Power
• Anaheim Water and Power
• Azusa Light & Power
• Vernon Light & Power
• San Diego Gas & Electric (serves southern Orange County, which is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area)

The only nuclear power plant that serves the Los Angeles metropolitan area is Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in the US state of Arizona 46 miles west of Phoenix. LADWP and Southern California Edison get their electricity from it.

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

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

• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• Verizon
• Metro PCS
• cricket Wireless
• Frontier Communications
• Charter Spectrum

Greater Los Angeles is one of the world's largest patient destinations. The Los Angeles Medical Services provide quality medical services and specialty care services to the populations served in compliance with local, state and federal regulations as well as human rights protection.[74] Archived February 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine

Los Angeles and Orange counties have separate medical service department but both work jointly. Government and Private hospitals open normally Monday through Friday, excluding City Holidays but some speciality hospitals are open year-round.[74] Archived February 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine

The main healthcare providers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area are Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Healthcare, and Providence Healthcare. LA Care and Care1st are also the main providers for those in the metropolitan area that have Medi-Cal.

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

• Los Angeles County Fair at Fairplex in Pomona
• Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa
• Riverside County Fair and Date Festival

• Anime Expo
• BlizzCon
• D23 Expo
• Electronic Entertainment Expo
• L.A. Comic Con
• Los Angeles Auto Show
• NAMM Show
• VidCon
• WonderCon

There are hundreds of shopping centers and shopping districts across the area. Some key ones that attract out-of-area visitors are listed here; see also the Table of Shopping Centers in Southern California for a more complete list.

Visitors may also stroll Broadway and 7th streets in Downtown Los Angeles, the main shopping districts until the 1950s, to see the architecture of the buildings that once housed the large downtown department stores such as the May Company, Bullock's, The Broadway, Desmond's, Coulter's, Barker Brothers, and J. W. Robinson's.

Warner Brothers Studios in the San Fernando Valley

• Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Universal Studios
• Walt Disney Studios
• Warner Brothers Studios
• The Studios at Paramount

There are over 100 museums in the area, with some of the most widely visited being:

• Channel Islands National Park
• Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
• Old Spanish National Historic Trail
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
• Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge

• 213 – Downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by 323 (October 1947)
• 310/424 – Santa Monica, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Compton, Lynwood, Torrance, Beverly Hills, Catalina Island; the southwestern portion of Los Angeles County. (Split from 213 on November 2, 1991; overlaid by 424 on August 26, 2006)
• 323 – a ring around downtown Los Angeles, including the Hollywood and Eagle Rock neighborhoods of Los Angeles; South Los Angeles; the cities of South Gate, Huntington Park, Vernon, Walnut Park, Florence, Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Montebello, and East Los Angeles. (Split from 213 on June 13, 1998)
• 442/760 – Coachella Valley, including Palm Springs and Indio; Victor Valley, including Victorville and Apple Valley
• 562 – Long Beach, Downey, Whittier; Norwalk, Lakewood, Bellflower, Paramount, Cerritos, southeast Los Angeles County, and a small portion of coastal Orange County. (Split from 310 on January 25, 1997)
• 626 – Pasadena, Monterey Park, Rowland Heights, Alhambra, and West Covina; the San Gabriel Valley, and eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. (Split from 818 on June 14, 1997)
• 657/714 – Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Orange, Garden Grove; northern and western Orange County (Overlaid by 657 on September 23, 2008)
• 661 – Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, Palmdale; northern Los Angeles County including the Antelope Valley, and most of Kern County, including the southern San Joaquin Valley. (Split from 805 on February 13, 1999)
• 747/818 – the cities of Burbank, Glendale, San Fernando; the North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Sherman Oaks, and Northridge neighborhoods of Los Angeles; the San Fernando Valley. (Split from 213 on January 7, 1984)
• 805/820 – Ventura County, including the cities of Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura
• 909 – Southwest San Bernardino County and the far eastern L.A. County suburbs of Pomona, Walnut, Diamond Bar, San Dimas, La Verne, and Claremont. (Split from 714 on November 14, 1992)
• 949 – Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Juan Capistrano; southern and eastern Orange County. (Split from 714 on April 18, 1998)
• 951 – Corona, Hemet, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Riverside, Temecula; western end of Riverside County. (Split from 909 on July 17, 2004)

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

Cal State LA's The Golden Eagle, consisting of two adjoining structures separated by a promenade.

Greater Los Angeles is home to a number of colleges and universities. The University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles, are among the largest, and the Claremont Colleges and California Institute of Technology are among the most academically renowned. Below is a list of colleges and universities within the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.

The primary airport serving the LA metro area is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the busiest airports in the United States. LAX is in southwestern Los Angeles, 16 miles (26 km) from Downtown Los Angeles. LAX is the only airport to serve as a hub for all three U.S. legacy airlines —American, Delta and United.

In addition to LAX, other airports, including Hollywood Burbank Airport, John Wayne Airport, Long Beach Airport, Ontario International Airport, and San Bernardino International Airport also serve the region.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area has only one suspension bridge: Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, and one cable-stayed bridge: Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach.

• Golden State Freeway/Santa Ana Freeway/San Diego Freeway/Montgomery Freeway (Interstate 5)
• Santa Monica Freeway/Rosa Parks Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10)
• Escondido Freeway/Temecula Valley Freeway/Corona Freeway/Ontario Freeway/Mojave Freeway (Interstate 15)
• Glenn Anderson Freeway/Century Freeway (Interstate 105)
• Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110)
• Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210)
• Escondido Freeway/Armed Forces Freeway/Barstow Freeway (Interstate 215)
• San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405)
• San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605)
• Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710)

• Will Rogers Highway (Former U.S. Route 66)
• Pacific Highway (Former U.S. Route 99)
• Santa Ana Freeway/Hollywood Freeway (U.S. Route 101)

Map of LA County Metro

The Metro Rail is the mass transit rail system of Los Angeles County. It is run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its system runs six rail lines throughout Los Angeles County. Metro Rail currently operates four light rail lines and two rapid transit subway lines, altogether totaling 87.7 miles (141.1 km) of rail, 101 stations, and over 360,000 daily weekday boardings as of December 2012.[79]

• The A Line (Blue) – Light Rail
• The B Line (Red) – Heavy Rail
• The C Line (Green) – Light Rail
• The D Line (Purple) – Heavy Rail
• The E Line (Expo) – Light Rail
• The G Line (Orange) – Busway
• The J Line (Silver) – Busway
• The L Line (Gold) – Light Rail

The systems light rail system is the second busiest LRT system in the United States, after Boston, by number of riders, with 200,300 average weekday boardings during the third quarter of 2012.[80] By 2019, it had become the most heavily ridden light rail system in the country.[81]

Since the region of the city is in close proximity to a major fault area the tunnels were built to resist earthquakes of up to magnitude 7.5. Both subway lines use an electrified third rail to provide power to the trains, rendering these lines unusable on the other three. The Blue and Gold Lines run mostly at grade, with some street-running, elevated, and underground stretches in the more densely populated areas of Los Angeles. The Green Line is entirely grade separated, running in the median of I-105 and then turning southward along an elevated route.

The rail lines run regularly on a 5 am and midnight schedule, seven days a week. Limited service on particular segments is provided after midnight and before 5 am There is no rail service between 2 and 3:30 am Exact times vary from route to route; see individual route articles for more information.

There are two providers of heavy rail transportation in the region, Amtrak and Metrolink. Amtrak provides service to San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and points in between on the Pacific Surfliner. It also provides long-distance routes, including the Coast Starlight which goes to the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington; the Southwest Chief which goes to Flagstaff, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kansas City, Missouri and Chicago; and the Sunset Limited which provides limited service (three days a week) to Tucson, El Paso, Houston, and New Orleans.

Metrolink provides service to numerous places within Southern California, including all counties in the region. Metrolink operates to 55 stations on seven lines within Southern California which mostly (except for the Inland Empire–Orange County Line) radiate from Los Angeles Union Station.

As a whole, the Los Angeles area has more national championships, all sports combined (college and professional), than any other city in the United States, with over four times as many championships as the entire state of Texas, and just over twice that of New York City.[82] It is the only American city to host the summer Olympic games twice: once in 1932, and more recently in 1984 (Lake Placid hosted the winter Olympic games twice: once in 1932 and once in 1980). Los Angeles will also be the host of the 2028 Summer Olympics, becoming the third city to host three Olympic Games, after London and Paris.

Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles

Other professional venues include:

• Auto Club Raceway, Pomona
• Auto Club Speedway
• John C. Argue Swim Stadium
• Long Beach Marine Stadium
• Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Temporary)
• Rose Bowl
• Santa Anita Park
• Kia Forum
• VELO Sports Center

UCLA–USC rivalry; both universities are located in Los Angeles and are members of the Pac-12 Conference, and will move together to the Big Ten Conference in 2024. The rivalry between the two is among the more unusual in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports, because the campuses are only 12 miles (19 km) apart, and both are located within the same megacity.

• California Baptist Lancers
• Cal State Fullerton Titans
• Cal State Northridge Matadors
• Long Beach State Beach
• Loyola Marymount Lions
• Pepperdine Waves
• UC Irvine Anteaters
• UC Riverside Highlanders
• UCLA Bruins (FBS)
• USC Trojans (FBS)

The Greater Los Angeles area also has three well-known horse racing facilities: Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Race Course and the former Hollywood Park Racetrack and three major motorsport venues: Auto Club Speedway, Long Beach street circuit, and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. In addition, the city of Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984.

For over twenty years the Los Angeles area media market lacked a National Football League team. After the 1994 season, the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Los Angeles Raiders returned to their original home of Oakland, California, due to the lack of an up-to-date NFL stadium. After numerous stadium proposals between 1995 and 2016 in an attempt to bring the NFL back,[83][84][85] the Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers all submitted plans to relocate back to Los Angeles after the 2015 NFL season. On January 12, 2016, the Rams were approved to move to Los Angeles and build the venue eventually known as SoFi Stadium with the Chargers or Raiders given the option to join them. On January 12, 2017, the Chargers announced their move to Los Angeles to join the Rams. Both teams share SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.[86]

The Los Angeles Basin, viewed south from Mulholland Drive. From left to right can be seen the Santa Ana Mountains / Saddleback (horizon), downtown L.A., the Hollywood Bowl (foreground), Mid-Wilshire, Long Beach – Palos Verdes (background), Catalina Island (horizon), the South Bay and Pacific Ocean.