A Portrait of Los Angeles County 2026

Lewis; Kristen; Alex Powers; Kate Harvey; and Tara Shawa.; Lewis; Kristen; Alex Powers; Kate Harvey; and Tara Shawa.

LAUNCHED MARCH 11, 2026

FULL REPORT | PRESS RELEASE | COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS PORTAL | METHOD APPENDIX | DOWNLOAD DATA

A Portrait of Los Angeles County 2026 takes an in-depth look into well-being and opportunity in Los Angeles County, one of the most diverse places in the nation. This project is a follow-up to Measure of America’s A Portrait of Los Angeles County 2017, which featured a ranked well-being index for different places and demographic groups in the County.

To understand how Angelenos are faring, Measure of America uses the American Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure that takes into account three essential facets of a life of freedom and opportunity—a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. This report presents HDI scores for a deep dive into each of these areas individually—for 115 cities and unincorporated areas in LA County, as well as for the 34 community plan areas within the City of Los Angeles, for major racial and ethnic groups, for women and men, and for US- and foreign-born residents. This report also explores a range of critical issues, including health, education, living standards, environmental justice, immigration, housing, homelessness, and inequality.

An innovation in the preparatory process for this report has been greater focus on community engagement, accomplished through in-person and virtual data walks with LA County residents to gather community perspectives, feedback, and information. We have developed an online portal to accompany the report that serves as a dedicated space for these conversations with hundreds of Angelenos. This portal highlights key issues that surfaced during our discussions—including concerns around rising housing costs, unreliable public transportation, childcare affordability, mental health, health care and other benefits for the elderly, and pathways to educational and career opportunities for young people —and allows people to listen to residents’ insights and experiences in their own words. Access the portal here.

KEY FINDINGS:

HEALTH:

A baby born today in LA County can expect to live 80.5 years, on average. While this is longer than the life expectancy of the average Californian or American, it is a 1.6-year decrease since the 2017 report. There are multiple reasons for this decline, including the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in deaths from drug overdose and cardiovascular disease.
A striking 15-year gap separates the longest- and shortest-living racial and ethnic groups; Asian Angelenos have the highest life expectancy at 86.2 years, while Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) have the lowest, 71.2 years.
As in California and the United States as a whole, women in LA County live longer than their male counterparts across all major racial and ethnic groups. The average life expectancy at birth for women is 83.6 years, 6.1 years longer than for men.
Foreign-born LA County residents outlive those born in the United States by 3.6 years.
Among the County’s cities, Census-Designated Places, and City of Los Angeles Community Plan Areas, life expectancy ranged from 88.1 years in Westwood to 71.8 years in Sun Village in the Antelope Valley—a span of 16.3 years.

EDUCATION:

Overall, LA County has made considerable progress since the 2017 report in terms of education. The Education Index, which combines data on enrollment and educational attainment, increased by roughly 10 percent, from 4.96 to 5.46. While enrollment remained stagnant, educational attainment saw a significant and heartening increase. Despite this progress, however, Los Angeles County is behind the state as a whole when it comes to high school diploma and bachelor’s and graduate degree attainment.
On average, LA County women have higher Education Index scores than men, 5.66 compared to 5.26, outperforming men on both the school-enrollment and degree-attainment components of the index.
The County’s overall Education Index score conceals significant disparities between racial and ethnic groups. On the high end, white Angelenos score highest, 7.62, while Asian Angelenos are not far behind at 7.56. Black, Native American, NHOPI, and Latino Angelenos all have scores below the County average. Latino Angelenos have the lowest score, 3.29.
Communities in Los Angeles County have some of the highest Education Index scores in the country—as well as some of the lowest. The highest score, 9.91, can be found in Westwood, the City of Los Angeles neighborhood home to the University of California, Los Angeles. Maywood, a city in southeast Los Angeles, has the County’s lowest Education Index score, 1.67.
The youth disconnection rate is the share of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. In Los Angeles County, the rate of youth disconnection is 11.9 percent: 133,900 young people.

LIVING STANDARDS:

- The typical LA worker in Los Angeles County earns about $44,600, $3,500 less than the California median, $48,100. Median personal earnings have risen since the 2017 report, from $39,500 to $44,600 (adjusted for inflation and presented in 2023 dollars). While earnings are higher, the costs of many bare-bones necessities, from housing and childcare to food and transportation, have outpaced the increase in earnings.
- White workers in Los Angeles County earn $70,200 per year—the highest earnings of any racial or ethnic group—while Latino Angelenos earn the least, $35,900.
- Overall, men in Los Angeles County take home $9,300 more annually than their female counterparts, $49,700 compared to $40,400, respectively.
- In Palos Verdes Estates, the typical worker earns $120,200, more than 2.5 times the Los Angeles County median and over four times the typical worker in Cudahy, the lowest-earning place excluding Westwood.
- Housing cost burden is a severe issue in the County, affecting even those in wealthier neighborhoods. In fact, in all LA County neighborhoods, a resident earning the median salary for that neighborhood would need to work over 40 hours a week to afford monthly median housing costs without being housing cost-burdened.