Los Angeles County · California
Los Angeles, CA jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Los Angeles, CA earn a median of $41,828 a year, 6% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 7.9% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 20.5% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $41,828#49 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 7.9%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 66.6%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 1,954,823Civilian employed, age 16+
What Los Angeles does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance20.5%
- Professional, scientific & management15.5%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food12%
- Retail trade9.5%
- Manufacturing6.9%
- Construction6.5%
- Information6.5%
- Finance, insurance & real estate5.9%
- Other services, except public administration5.9%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities5.3%
- Public administration2.7%
- Wholesale trade2.4%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.4%
Related data for Los Angeles
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.