Los Angeles city’s population is 3,869,089 as of July 1, 2025, per the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimate, keeping it the 2nd-largest U.S. city, while surrounding Los Angeles County holds 9,694,934 residents, the most populous county in the nation. Both figures remain below their 2020 Census counts, down 0.8% and 3.2% respectively.
Population of Los Angeles 2026
Los Angeles Population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau describe a city and county that have not returned to their pre-pandemic size. As of July 1, 2025, the City of Los Angeles held 3,869,089 residents, a decline of 0.8% from its April 2020 base of 3,899,342. That keeps Los Angeles the 2nd-largest city in the United States behind New York City and the largest city anywhere in the Western United States. Los Angeles County, which wraps the city and 87 other incorporated municipalities, counted 9,694,934 residents in the same estimate, a steeper 3.2% drop from its 2020 base of 10,017,414, though it remains by far the most populous county in the country.
The broader trend is one of a region losing residents to other states even as it keeps attracting immigrants from abroad. Los Angeles County alone is home to roughly 24.6% of California’s entire population, meaning shifts here move statewide totals almost by themselves. High housing costs, a shrinking entertainment-industry job base, and continued outmigration to Texas, Arizona, and Nevada have all weighed on the region’s numbers through the middle of the decade, even as Los Angeles remains the cultural and economic anchor of Southern California heading into 2026.
Los Angeles’s population losses have come almost entirely from domestic migration rather than from a collapse in international arrivals. The city and county continue drawing immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and across Asia, a flow that has partially offset residents priced out of the local housing market moving elsewhere. That push and pull is the defining demographic story behind every Los Angeles population figure published for 2026.
Interesting Facts About Los Angeles Population 2026
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| City population (July 2025) | 3,869,089 |
| County population (July 2025) | 9,694,934 |
| National city rank | 2nd largest U.S. city |
| National county rank | Most populous U.S. county |
| Change since 2020 (city) | -0.8% |
| Change since 2020 (county) | -3.2% |
| Female share (county) | 51.1% |
| Foreign-born residents (county) | 33.4% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025)
Los Angeles County remains the most populous county anywhere in the United States by a wide margin, holding more residents than 40 individual U.S. states outright. Roughly one in three county residents, 33.4%, was born outside the United States, a share that shapes everything from public school language programs to the local economy’s dependence on immigrant labor across construction, hospitality, and healthcare.
These numbers also carry direct policy weight. Los Angeles County’s population decline since 2020 has fed into debates over housing supply, transit funding, and how many congressional seats California will hold after the 2030 Census. A region this large losing residents on net, even by a few percentage points, still represents hundreds of thousands of people relocating, a scale of movement most other U.S. metro areas never approach.
Local agencies track these figures closely because federal and state funding is tied directly to population counts. Transit expansion tied to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, school budgeting, and Medi-Cal enrollment projections all lean on the same Census Bureau estimates, making the annual Vintage release closely watched by planners across the county’s 88 cities.
Los Angeles Population by County 2026
| County | Population (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | 9,694,934 |
| Orange County | 3,149,507 |
| Riverside County | 2,544,916 |
| San Bernardino County | 2,224,091 |
| Ventura County | 837,469 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Los Angeles County dwarfs its Southern California neighbors, holding roughly three times the population of Orange County and nearly four times that of Riverside County. Together, these five counties form the core of the Greater Los Angeles region, a combined statistical area home to more than 18 million people, second only to the New York metropolitan area nationally.
The growth patterns across these counties diverge sharply from Los Angeles County itself. Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the Inland Empire, have both grown since the 2020 Census even as Los Angeles County shrank, a pattern driven largely by residents priced out of coastal housing markets moving inland in search of affordability. That divergence is reshaping commuting patterns and infrastructure demand across the entire Southern California mega-region.
Orange County has followed a middle path, edging down slightly since 2020 but at a far slower pace than Los Angeles County, while Ventura County has stayed comparatively stable thanks to strict growth-control policies that have long limited new housing construction along its coastline. Taken together, these five counties illustrate how population growth in modern Southern California increasingly flows outward from the urban core toward cheaper, less-dense communities further inland.
Los Angeles Population by City 2026
| City | Population (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 3,869,089 |
| Long Beach | 450,469 |
| Santa Clarita | 228,430 |
| Glendale | 187,823 |
| Palmdale | 162,536 |
| Pomona | 147,966 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau; California Department of Finance
The City of Los Angeles towers over every other municipality in the county, holding more than eight times the population of second-place Long Beach. For readers comparing these numbers against other major metros nationally, a broader breakdown of population figures across major U.S. cities shows how few American cities come anywhere close to Los Angeles’s scale outside of New York.
Santa Clarita has emerged as the county’s fastest-growing large city in recent years, driven by newer housing developments in the Santa Clarita Valley that remain more affordable than coastal neighborhoods. Glendale, Palmdale, and Pomona round out the next tier, each holding well over 100,000 residents and functioning as significant employment and retail hubs in their own right rather than simple bedroom communities of the central city.
Beyond these six, dozens of smaller incorporated cities and unincorporated communities make up the rest of Los Angeles County’s 88 municipalities, ranging from dense inner-ring suburbs like Inglewood and Compton to smaller, wealthier enclaves such as Beverly Hills and Malibu. That range, from a city of nearly four million down to towns of a few thousand, is part of what makes countywide averages, whether for income, age, or race, mask enormous local variation from one community to the next.
Los Angeles Population Growth Trend 2026
| Year | County Population | Change from Prior Year |
|---|---|---|
| April 2020 (Census) | 10,014,009 | — |
| July 2021 | 9,810,478 | -203,531 |
| July 2022 | 9,748,524 | -61,954 |
| July 2023 | 9,732,568 | -15,956 |
| July 2024 | 9,748,868 | +16,300 |
| July 2025 | 9,694,934 | -53,934 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)
Los Angeles County’s population trajectory has been anything but steady. The county shed more than 200,000 residents in the year immediately following the 2020 Census, among the sharpest single-year losses recorded by any large U.S. county, before the pace of decline slowed considerably through 2022 and 2023. A brief uptick in 2023–2024 briefly suggested stabilization before the county lost nearly 54,000 residents again in the most recent estimate year.
That volatility reflects how sensitive Los Angeles’s population is to shifting migration patterns. Domestic outmigration to lower-cost states has remained a persistent drag throughout the period, while international migration has fluctuated year to year depending on federal immigration policy and processing capacity. Unlike steadier-growing counties in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County has yet to establish a clear, sustained recovery trend.
The single-year swing between the 2023–2024 gain and the 2024–2025 loss is large enough, nearly 70,000 residents, that demographers caution against reading too much into any one Vintage release. Revisions between estimate cycles have been unusually large for Los Angeles County compared to other major U.S. counties, a pattern the Census Bureau has attributed partly to difficulty tracking international migration flows at the county level with the same precision it applies statewide.
Los Angeles Population by Age 2026
| Age Group | County Share | City Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 4.8% | 5.0% |
| Under 18 years | 19.2% | 19.2% |
| 65 years and over | 17.1% | 14.2% |
| Median age (county) | 38.2 years | — |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts and American Community Survey
Los Angeles County’s age structure runs slightly older than the city proper, with 17.1% of county residents aged 65 and over compared to 14.2% within city limits. A countywide median age of 38.2 years places the region close to the national median, reflecting a mix of an aging native-born population and continual inflows of younger immigrants and domestic newcomers that keep the overall figure from skewing much older.
The near-identical under-18 share of 19.2% in both the city and county suggests that family formation patterns are broadly similar across the region, unlike many older Northeastern metros where urban cores skew noticeably younger than their surrounding suburbs. Still, individual cities within the county vary widely, with newer suburban communities like Santa Clarita trending younger and older, denser neighborhoods closer to downtown trending toward a more evenly distributed age profile.
Los Angeles Population by Gender 2026
| Category | County Share | City Share |
|---|---|---|
| Female population | 51.1% | 50.2% |
| Male population | 48.9% | 49.8% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Women make up a slight majority of both Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, at 51.1% and 50.2% respectively. The gap between city and county figures is narrower than in many other major metro areas, suggesting a relatively even gender distribution across the region’s urban core and its surrounding suburbs rather than any sharp divide.
This near-even split still shapes regional planning around healthcare access, senior services, and workforce programs, since women in Los Angeles, as nationally, tend to live longer on average and make up a growing share of the population in the oldest age brackets. County health and human services agencies routinely cite this gender composition when allocating funding for programs targeting elder care and maternal health across the region’s 88 cities.
Los Angeles Population by Race and Ethnicity 2026
| Race / Ethnicity | County Share | City Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 49.3% | 47.2% |
| White alone | 62.9% | 33.4% |
| Asian alone | 16.6% | 12.1% |
| Black or African American alone | 8.9% | 8.4% |
| Two or more races | 5.8% | 18.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 5.2% | 1.3% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Population Estimates Program
Los Angeles stands out nationally for its diversity, with Hispanic or Latino residents making up close to half the population in both the city and county, the single largest ethnic group by a wide margin. For a national point of comparison, recent figures on the Hispanic population share across the United States show that Los Angeles County’s Hispanic share runs well above the national average, reinforcing its role as one of the country’s largest Latino population centers alongside cities in Texas and Florida.
The county’s Asian alone population of 16.6% likewise outpaces the national figure by a wide margin, anchored by long-established communities across the San Gabriel Valley and South Bay. Broader context on the Asian population living across the U.S. helps frame how concentrated this community is in Southern California relative to the rest of the country. Meanwhile, the notably higher Two or more races share within city limits, 18.9% versus 5.8% countywide, reflects both a younger, more urban population and how Census methodology captures increasingly diverse family backgrounds in dense city neighborhoods.
Los Angeles Household and Income Statistics 2026
| Metric | County | City |
|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $90,112 | $80,366 |
| Total households (approx.) | 3.42 million | 1,419,663 |
| Persons per household | 2.7 | 2.64 |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher (25+) | 36.0% | 37.8% |
| Median home value | $834,200 | — |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey; U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts
Los Angeles County’s median household income reached $90,112 in the most recent American Community Survey estimate, running roughly 9% below the California statewide median but well above the national figure. Income within city limits trails the countywide number at $80,366, a gap that reflects the concentration of lower-income neighborhoods and renter households inside the city compared to higher-income suburban cities elsewhere in the county.
Housing costs remain the defining economic pressure across the region, with a median home value of $834,200 countywide and only about 46% of households owning rather than renting their homes. Educational attainment tells a more mixed story: the city’s 37.8% bachelor’s-degree-or-higher rate among adults 25 and older actually edges out the countywide figure of 36.0%, driven by dense, highly educated neighborhoods near downtown and the Westside that offset lower-attainment areas elsewhere in the city.
Household size also differs modestly between the city and county, with city households averaging 2.64 people compared to 2.7 countywide, a gap consistent with the city’s larger share of renters and smaller apartment units relative to the single-family-home-heavy suburbs elsewhere in the county. Income by age of householder follows the familiar national pattern too, rising through the prime working years before tapering off after retirement, though Los Angeles householders in the 45-to-64 bracket post some of the highest median earnings of any age group across the county.
Los Angeles Immigration and Foreign-Born Statistics 2026
| Metric | County | City |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign-born residents | 33.4% | 35.7% |
| Language other than English at home | — | 56.8% |
| Veterans | 209,570 | 67,714 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2020–2024
Foreign-born residents make up over a third of the population within Los Angeles city limits, at 35.7%, and roughly a third of the county overall at 33.4%, among the highest shares recorded by any major U.S. metro area. More than half of city residents aged 5 and older, 56.8%, report speaking a language other than English at home, underscoring how central immigrant communities are to daily life across the region’s neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.
This immigrant population has also shaped the region’s veteran community in less obvious ways, with 209,570 veterans living across Los Angeles County and 67,714 within the city itself, many of them naturalized citizens or first-generation Americans who served. Local school districts, healthcare systems, and workforce agencies across Los Angeles continue to design services around this multilingual, internationally rooted population base as they plan for 2026 and beyond.
The scale of this foreign-born population also means Los Angeles functions as a genuine gateway region in a way few other U.S. metros do, comparable in this respect only to New York, Miami, and a handful of Texas border cities. Immigration policy changes at the federal level tend to register in Los Angeles’s population estimates faster and more visibly than in most other parts of the country, which is part of why the county’s year-over-year figures have swung as sharply as they have through the middle of the decade.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Los Angeles in 2026?
Los Angeles city had 3,869,089 residents as of July 1, 2025, the most recent official Census Bureau estimate. Calendar-year 2026 figures have not yet been published.
What is the population of Los Angeles County in 2026?
Los Angeles County had 9,694,934 residents as of July 2025, remaining the most populous county in the United States despite a 3.2% decline since the 2020 Census.
Is Los Angeles losing population?
Los Angeles has lost population since the 2020 Census, with the city down 0.8% and the surrounding county down 3.2% through mid-2025, driven mainly by domestic outmigration to other states.
What is the largest city in Los Angeles County?
Los Angeles is by far the largest city in the county, with 3,869,089 residents, more than eight times the population of second-place Long Beach at 450,469.
What percentage of Los Angeles is Hispanic?
Hispanic or Latino residents make up 49.3% of Los Angeles County and 47.2% of the city itself, the largest single ethnic group in both areas.
What is the median age in Los Angeles County?
The median age in Los Angeles County is 38.2 years, close to the national median age.
How many people in Los Angeles were born outside the U.S.?
Foreign-born residents account for 35.7% of Los Angeles city’s population and 33.4% of Los Angeles County’s population overall.
What is the median household income in Los Angeles?
The median household income is $90,112 for Los Angeles County and $80,366 within Los Angeles city limits, according to the latest American Community Survey.
How does Los Angeles rank nationally by population?
Los Angeles city ranks as the 2nd-largest U.S. city behind New York City, while Los Angeles County ranks as the most populous county in the entire country.
What is the gender breakdown of Los Angeles’s population?
Women make up 51.1% of Los Angeles County’s population and 50.2% of the city’s population, a slight majority in both cases.
How many households are there in Los Angeles County?
Los Angeles County has approximately 3.42 million households, with an average of 2.7 persons per household, according to the latest American Community Survey data.
What is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County?
Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, with 450,469 residents, well behind the city of Los Angeles but ahead of Santa Clarita and Glendale.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
