REGION
South Coast
From aerospace to agglomeration
The South Coast region (composed of the counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange) became a national leader in the aerospace industry during the 1970s and 1980s: over a quarter million residents in Los Angeles County alone worked in aerospace each year, including 1 in 3 manufacturing workers and a third of the nation’s aerospace engineers. Defense companies benefited from large federal defense contracts (e.g., $18 billion total in 1988) and provided well-paying manufacturing, production, and engineering jobs. Average pay in the aerospace industry stayed above 100 percent of comparable jobs in other industries in all occupational groups. Growth in aerospace enabled expansion of the financial services industry and international trade via the Port of LA and Port of Long Beach.
However, downturns in defense spending in the early 1990s cut the number of aerospace jobs in half from mid-1980s levels. A statewide recession exacerbated the problem, leaving workers with few opportunities to move to equal or better paying jobs. Many workers left the region, while immigrants moved in. L.A.’s Latino population increased from 18 percent of total residents to 47 percent between 1970 and 2000. But the well-paying manufacturing and production jobs never returned, contributing to the region and state’s current overrepresentation of Latino workers in low-wage jobs.
Data Dashboard
Total
population
14,060,805
-
The total population of each region for the year 2019.
Available from US Census Bureau
Unemployment
rate
11.6%
-
Population weighted averages of unemployment rate at the region level for the year 2020.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Average
wage
$70,864.27
-
Weighted average of wages from 2020. It takes this weighted average of average total wages across industries and counties within the region.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Percentage of college grads
34.41%
-
The percentages of the population who are 25 years old and older and graduated college as a five-year average from 2015-2019.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Top 3 industries by employment
Trade, transportation, and utilities
Education and health services
Professional and business services
-
The top three industries with highest employment share, industry defined by QCEW Industry Codes.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics