Demographics of Los Angeles

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' population was 3,979,576 in 2019.[1]

Demographics of Los Angeles
Population pyramid of Los Angeles city in 2021
Population3,979,576 (2019)

Race, ethnicity, and national origin edit

 
Map of racial distribution in Los Angeles, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Other (yellow)

The 1990 United States Census and 2000 United States Census found that non-Hispanic whites were becoming a minority in Los Angeles. Estimates for the 2010 United States Census results find Latinos 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 as of 2020, according to DEC redistricting data, was as follows:[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%).[3]

Languages edit

According to the 2021 American Community Survey, the most commonly spoken languages in Los Angeles by people aged 5 years and over (3,650,704 people):[4]

Households and educational attainment edit

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the types of households were as follows out of 1,275,534 total:[3]

  • 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:[5]

  • 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 edit

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the income status of residents was as follows:[5]

  • 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:[5]

  • 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 edit

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the employment status of residents was as follows[5]

  • 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 edit

 
Los Angeles California Temple

Religion in Los Angeles (2020 PRRI)[6]

  Protestantism (35%)
  Mormon (1%)
  No religion (25%)
  Judaism (2%)
  Islam (1%)
  Buddhism (1%)
  Hinduism (1%)

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, Christianity 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'.[7]

The city has the most Druze living anywhere in the world outside Lebanon or Syria.[8]

Los Angeles has the world's largest population of Saudi Arabian expatriates (est. 20,000) according to the Saudi Embassy of the USA.[9]

About 15,000 Louisiana Creole persons of Acadian and Cajun background from Louisiana and the U.S. Gulf coast, many live in south-central L.A. alone.[10]

In the 1980 and 1990 Census, Bosnians established themselves in fairly large numbers in L.A. before the breakup of the former Yugoslavia 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.[11]

Salvadoran Americans are the second largest Hispanic population in Los Angeles, a city which holds the largest Salvadoran population outside of El Salvador and the Salvadoran diaspora living abroad and overseas. These were refugees that arrived in the 1980s and 1990s during the Salvadoran Civil War which was part of the Central American Crisis.

Armenians made an ethnic presence in Silver Lake/Elysian Park and Los Feliz/Hollywood.[12]

The city has a sizable Puerto Rican community (50,000 out of 145,000 in California), with just as many in San Diego, the largest west of the Mississippi River and also Puerto Rico.[13]

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 picnics in MacArthur Park, but that's no longer held since the early 1970s.[14]

Many neighborhoods in West Hollywood and parts of Long Beach are known for having majority LGBT communities.[15]

Persons of the Baháʼí Faith,[16] Mormons in the Latter-Day Saints churches,[17][failed verification] Seventh-day Adventists with their church-operated Loma Linda University,[18][failed verification] and the Church of Scientology headquarters are large theological/religious influences in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California.[19][failed verification] Los Angeles has the largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese (Archdiocese of Los Angeles) in the US.[20][failed verification]

Cherokee Indians, among other Native American tribes such as the Apache, Choctaw, Comanche, Hopi, Muscogee (Creek), Navajo, Nez Perce, Paiute, Shawnee and Zuni made Los Angeles probably have the largest Urban Indian population.[21]

L.A. along with Pasadena in the turn of the 20th century were one of two earliest world-known retirement communities to attracted a large number of senior citizens looked for a warmer climate to better fight health ailments.[22]

L.A. hosts the fourth largest number of Muslims in the United States.[23] 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.[24]

There are around 50,000 Roma living in the Los Angeles area, making it one of the cities with the highest Roma concentration in the U.S.[25]

More than 1.2 million Los Angeles residents are of Mexican ancestry. Mexican influences can be seen in the city’s culture.[26] 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.[27]

There is a significant Italian American community in Los Angeles.[28]

1.2 million Filipino Americans live in the Greater Los Angeles area.[29]

Los Angeles has the largest Thai population outside of Thailand.[30]

Los Angeles is home to the second largest Muslim population in the United States after New York as well as one of the largest population of Romani Americans in the United States.[31]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2019 Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019". United States Census Bureau, Population Division. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  2. ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  3. ^ a b "California - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder". Factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on November 24, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "American Community Survey - S1601 - LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Los Angeles city, California - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006-2008". 7 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  6. ^ Consulting, Epicenter. "PRRI – American Values Atlas". PRRI – American Values Atlas. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  7. ^ "America's Changing Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life. May 12, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved 2014-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Saudi Offices in the United States". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  10. ^ Ford, Andrea (1996-04-26). "Left Coast Creole". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  11. ^ Wayne S. Vucinich (September 1960). "Yugoslavs in California". The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly. 42 (3): 287–309. doi:10.2307/41169470. JSTOR 41169470.
  12. ^ "Central Asia Institute » with philanthropist under attack, hometown comes to his defense". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  13. ^ "PR Population In California". Houseofpuertorico.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  14. ^ Kall, Vickey (26 August 2010). "History, Los Angeles County: Iowa Picnics - Long Beach and elsewhere". Historylosangeles.blogspot.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Homepage - L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center - L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center". 16 February 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Los Angeles Baha'i Community". Archived from the original on 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  17. ^ "Los Angeles California Temple". Ldschurchtemples.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  18. ^ "Loma Linda University". Llu.edu. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Church of Scientology of Los Angeles - All Are Welcome!". Scientology-losangeles.org. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Welcome to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles". La-archdiocese.org. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  21. ^ "Native American Indian Commission in Los Angeles - 35 Years - NativeNewsNetwork". Archived from the original on 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  22. ^ "History of Area". Neighborhoodlink.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  23. ^ "Which US Cities are Celebrating Ramadan?". Reachingthenationsamongus.org. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  24. ^ MacFarquhar, Neil (2009-11-09). "Protest Greets Police Plan to Map Muslim Angelenos". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  25. ^ Schaefer, Richard T.; Zellner, William W. (15 October 2010). Extraordinary Groups: An Examination of Unconventional Lifestyles. Macmillan. ISBN 9781429232241. Retrieved 17 October 2017 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Mexican LA: History, culture and resistance".
  27. ^ [https://saintsophia.org/history/ The History of the Greek Community of Los Angeles]
  28. ^ Marge Bitetti (2007). Italians in Los Angeles.
  29. ^ "Filipino Americans hope for more recognition with new arch in L.A.'s Historic Filipinotown". Los Angeles Times. 2 March 2022.
  30. ^ Thais in Los Angeles. 2011.
  31. ^ Lynch, Andrew (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Spanish in the Global City. Routledge. p. 407. ISBN 9781317506744.