Companies in Los Angeles: 411,949 businesses across two counties, and the headquarters that lead them

This page is for anyone who needs to find, size or sell to Los Angeles companies: buyers looking for a supplier, job seekers, analysts and B2B sellers working Southern California. It covers the Census count for Los Angeles and Orange counties, what the businesses do, how LA's job mix has shifted, the 15 biggest headquarters with figures from their filings, local sources for names, and a worked example near the ports.

How many businesses are in Los Angeles

That is 362,690 establishments with 1 to 19 employees, 41,077 with 20 to 99 and 8,182 with 100 or more. 62.6% have fewer than five employees, against 59.3% in the Denver metro and 56.4% in Phoenix. County Business Patterns counts each location with a payroll and leaves out the self-employed, which in Los Angeles means much of the freelance entertainment workforce is missing. Figures are for 2023, with employment in mid-March.

What Los Angeles businesses do

Average pay is our calculation from payroll. Three things set LA apart. Wholesale trade, at 27,945 establishments, reflects the ports and the import trade behind them. Arts, entertainment and recreation has 23,171 establishments, nearly as many as construction (25,486). And manufacturing still employs 435,021 people at 14,403 establishments, about 30 per site, including 16,104 in apparel and 31,989 in aerospace.

How LA's job mix has shifted

Los Angeles County's financial report for the year to June 2025 ranks the county's ten largest industries by employment, from California Employment Development Department data, against nine years earlier:

Information, the category that includes film and television, lost 40,600 jobs in the county over the nine years, and manufacturing lost 65,900. Education and health care added 245,300 and is now more than a fifth of all county jobs. The county says it presents industries rather than employers because it couldn't obtain employment numbers for individual employers; for a list of the state's biggest worksites, see the largest employers in California.

The biggest companies headquartered in Los Angeles

Ranked by revenue in each company's latest 10-K, with the city from its cover page:

Rivian (Irvine, $5.39 billion), Mattel (El Segundo, $5.35 billion), Ensign Group (San Juan Capistrano, $5.06 billion), Skyworks Solutions (Irvine, $4.09 billion) and Alignment Healthcare (Orange, $3.95 billion) come next. Gold.com, the precious metals trader founded as A-Mark Precious Metals, more than doubled its revenue to $25.51 billion in the year to June 2026. Five of the top 15 are in Orange County.

Several familiar names aren't counted. Public Storage's 10-K for 2025 gives Frisco, Texas; Herbalife's gives Grand Cayman; AeroVironment's gives Arlington, Virginia; and McGraw Hill's gives Columbus, Ohio. Guess was acquired and delisted in January 2026, and Air Lease, now Sumisho Air Lease, was delisted in April 2026 after its sale, though it still files with the SEC.

Finding and checking a Los Angeles company

Each city in the two counties runs its own business licensing, so a firm registered in Santa Monica may have no record with the City of Los Angeles. For statewide checks, including seller's permits and tax standing, see businesses in California.

Prospecting Los Angeles companies

A market this large only works if you cut it hard. The ports give one natural cut: the importers and wholesalers that move goods through San Pedro Bay.

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are fictional; the counts are from County Business Patterns.

Harbor Gateway Customs (harborgatewaycustoms.example) is a licensed customs broker that handles entries, tariff classification and duty planning for importers.

1. Nondurable-goods wholesalers (NAICS 424) in Los Angeles County with 10 to 99 employees: 1,016 + 705 + 215 = 1,936.
2. Orange County adds 208 + 133 + 67 = 408, for 2,344.
3. It assumes 40% import directly rather than buying from domestic distributors: about 940 importers.
4. Signing 3% in a year is 28 new accounts, enough to add a second classification specialist.

It targets owners, controllers and logistics managers, and times outreach to tariff announcements and to each company's peak import season. Telling which of 2,344 wholesalers import directly, and who handles customs, is the research Bebop does for each account.

Subject: Duty on [Company]'s [product] entries

Hi [first name],

Importers your size in LA often pay duty on classifications nobody has reviewed since the last tariff change.

We're a licensed customs broker in Carson. We review a sample of your recent entries for free and show where classification or valuation could change what you pay. Could I run that review on your last 20 entries?

[Your name], Harbor Gateway Customs

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