Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is a sprawling Southern California city and the center of the nation’s film and television industry. Near its iconic Hollywood sign, studios such as Paramount Pictures, Universal and Warner Brothers offer behind-the-scenes tours. On Hollywood Boulevard, TCL Chinese Theatre displays celebrities’ hand- and footprints, the Walk of Fame honors thousands of luminaries and vendors sell maps to stars’ homes.

The City of Los Angeles holds many distinctions. L.A. is the entertainment capital of the world, a cultural mecca boasting more than 100 museums and a paradise of idyllic weather. From tourist attractions like the Walk of Fame’s collection of stars (numbering more than 2,614 and growing by one or two a month) to career opportunities like those presented in the expanding tech industry, Los Angeles is the place to be. It is the only city in North America to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice. Downtown L.A. is the largest government center outside of Washington, D.C. Los Angeles has the only remaining wooden lighthouse in the state (located in San Pedro’s Fermin Park) and the largest historical theater district on the National Register of Historic Places (located Downtown on Broadway).

Los Angeles is on the leading edge of several growth industries. L.A. County, with more than 87,000 jobs in the fashion industry, has surpassed New York’s fashion district workforce. The L.A. five-county area also has more than 700,000 people at work in health services/biomedical activities and 190,000 people in aerospace/technology. Here are some more facts and figures about Los Angeles: the city, the county and the region.