The rumors are indeed true – people are leaving Los Angeles!
According to the 2025 U.S. Census, Los Angeles County saw the highest decline in population in all of the United States.
Published on March 26, 2025, Census data shows nearly 54,0000 people moved out of L.A. County between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025.
While this is the highest population number leaving a county around the country, it only accounts for 0.5% of the population. Comparatively, Taylor County in Florida lost the highest percentage of its population, with -2.2%.
While Census data doesn’t show where those populations went, KTLA reports that Riverside and San Bernardino counties saw a combined increase of 21,131 residents between 2024 and 2025.
And despite the departures, L.A. County is still the country’s most populous county with nearly double the population of Cook County in Illinois, the nation’s second-largest county.
The news follows a report from earlier this year that rent has dropped to a four-year low in the Los Angeles metro area. The median rent fell to $2,167 in December 2025, while the median for L.A. County dropped to $2,035. Vacancy rates climbed to 5.3% in December, the highest level in years.
