❓WHAT HAPPENED: Tens of thousands of residents are leaving Los Angeles County, with the region recording the largest population drop in the nation between July 2024 and July 2025, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Residents of Los Angeles County, neighboring counties such as Riverside and San Bernardino, and demographers analyzing U.S. Census Bureau data.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Between July 2024 and July 2025, primarily in Los Angeles County and surrounding areas in California, with the data released in March 2026.
🎯IMPACT: The population decline could lead to worker shortages, rising costs, and slower economic growth, with ripple effects on California’s labor market and economy.
Los Angeles County, California, has seen a significant population decline, with roughly 54,000 residents leaving between July 2024 and July 2025, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data. Once home to over 10 million people in 2020, the county’s population has now dropped below 9.7 million.
Neighboring regions, including Riverside and San Bernardino counties, gained more than 21,000 residents during the same period, while the Las Vegas metro area attracted over 20,000 people. However, even more troubling for Los Angeles County is that the rate of outmigration is not being offset by new residents relocating to the area—a trend that, over the long term, could severely undermine the local tax base.
Notably, the uptick in the exodus of Los Angeles County residents came as the region was devastated by wildfires in early 2025. The lack of response from city, county, and state officials—including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA)—led to 12 people killed in Pacific Palisades and another 18 in Altadena. Over 6,000 homes and buildings were destroyed, including properties owned by high-profile figures such as Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks, and Mandy Moore. The National Pulse reported in October last year that 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested for setting the Pacific Palisades fire.
Meanwhile, California as a whole is grappling with population declines, with 30 out of 58 counties losing residents in 2025. A sharp drop in foreign immigrants has been a major factor, with San Diego County alone experiencing a 65 percent year-over-year decrease in foreign arrivals. This drop coincides with President Donald J. Trump’s federal crackdown on illegal immigration and ramp-up of security at the U.S. southern border.
Since 2010, nearly ten million residents have left California, with many citing the state’s housing affordability crisis, violent crime, and declining quality of life issues like rampant drug use and homelessness. The state has also come under increasing federal scrutiny for social services fraud. State auditors previously identified billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and improper pandemic relief payments.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.