Los Angeles, California
43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Los Angeles census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90012. It lies near Chavez Ravine. The Survey maps it on the Los Angeles quadrangle. 3,898,747 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 348 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1894 to 1979The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1894 against another survey:
On record in Los Angeles
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 of 259 shown
Angelus TempleNational Historic Landmark · listed 1992
Baldwin Hills VillageNational Historic Landmark · listed 1993
Bradbury BuildingNational Historic Landmark · listed 1971
Hollyhock HouseNational Historic Landmark · listed 1971
Little Tokyo Historic DistrictNational Historic Landmark · listed 1986
Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumNational Historic Landmark · listed 1984
Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House IINational Historic Landmark
Watts Towers of Simon RodiaNational Historic Landmark · listed 1977
27th Street Historic Districtlisted 2009
52nd Place Historic Districtlisted 2009
Al Malaikah Templelisted 1987
Aloha Apartment Hotellisted 2018
Population over time
9 figuresLos Angeles grew from 1,610 to 3,898,747 between 1850 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 1,610 | |
| 1860 | 4,385 | +2,775 (+172%) |
| 1870 | 5,728 | +1,343 (+31%) |
| 1880 | 11,183 | +5,455 (+95%) |
| 1890 | 50,395 | +39,212 (+351%) |
| 1900 | 102,479 | +52,084 (+103%) |
| 1910 | 319,198 | +216,719 (+211%) |
| 2010 | 3,792,621 | |
| 2020 | 3,898,747 | +106,126 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 43 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1894 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:62500
- 1896 USGS Pasadena quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1900 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1900 USGS Pasadena quadrangle1:62500, 10 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1928 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:24000
- 1955 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
223 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 223 fires within 5 miles of Los Angeles between 2005 and 2020, burning about 1,239 acres in total. None started naturally. 21 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 |
| Smoking | 22 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 21 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 19 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2009 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 5 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 3 September 2012 | Smoking | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 28 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 23 September 2005 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 28 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of Los Angeles: 23 past producers, 3 prospects, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahuenga | Gold | Prospect | ||
| L.A. Mill | Talc-Soapstone | Producer | ||
| Reynolds Crushed Gravel Co. Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| California Portland Cement Company | Limestone, General, Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Southwestern Portland Cement Co | Limestone, General, Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Alameda St. Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Beyrle | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Blue Diamond Corp. - Alameda Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| City of Los Angeles | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Home Teaming and Transfer Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Angeles in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 3 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 high wind, 1 tornado. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | East Los Angeles | 1 hurt | A weak tornado developed in the community of Montebello. The EF1 tornado impacted the area around the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Maple Avenue. There was substantial damage to the industrial warehouse and commercial business district, including nearly total roof collapse in one building and a total of 17 damaged structures. Numerous vehicles were damaged due to flying debris. |
| February 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Los Angeles | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| February 2026 | Flood | Los Angeles | - | Heavy rain produced significant roadway flooding on Interstate 110 near West 39th Street. |
| February 2026 | Flash Flood | Los Angeles | - | Heavy rainfall generated flash flooding near the intersection of Interstates 10 and 110. |
| February 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Los Angeles | - | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down several trees in the South Los Angeles area. |
| March 2002 | High Wind | Los Angeles | - | no account filed |
| February 2000 | Flood | Los Angeles | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Flood | Los Angeles | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Tokyo | 0.3 miles | 43 | |
| Old Chinatown (historical) | 0.5 miles | 43 | |
| Bunker Hill Towers | 0.5 miles | 41 | |
| Naud Junction | 0.7 miles | 43 | |
| New Chinatown | 0.8 miles | 43 | |
| Aliso Village | 0.9 miles | 43 | |
| Mission Junction | 1.1 miles | 43 | |
| Taylor Junction | 1.3 miles | 43 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Los Angeles | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q65 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1662328. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.














