West Los Angeles statistics show a community shaped by dense housing, major commercial districts, healthcare campuses, and large public-service institutions. The West Los Angeles Community Plan recorded 68,062 residents and 35,679 dwelling units in 1990, while its General Plan Framework projected 83,331 people, 42,877 housing units, and 110,479 jobs for 2010. These are different measurement points: the 1990 figures describe conditions, while the 2010 numbers are projections.
On this page
- Population and demographic profile
- Housing and residential land
- 2010 residential capacity
- Commercial, industrial, and civic land use
- Public services and regional coverage
- Healthcare capacity
- Veteran housing and VA services
Population and demographic profile
The West Los Angeles Community Plan area had a population of 68,062 in 1990. The plan’s demographic breakdown described a predominantly non-Hispanic Caucasian population, alongside Hispanic, Asian, African American, and Native American residents. Because these figures are from 1990, they should be read as a historical profile rather than a current demographic estimate.
The 1990 ethnic mix was 73.1% Caucasian (non-Hispanic), 12.8% Hispanic, 11.2% Asian, 2.6% African American, and less than 1% Native American. The categories total approximately 99.7% before accounting for rounding and the less-than-1% description. All figures in this paragraph are from the West Los Angeles Community Plan and refer to the 1990 plan-area population.
The same plan used a General Plan Framework projection of 83,331 people in the West Los Angeles plan area for 2010. That projected population is not presented as an observed 2010 count here. It is a planning figure, paired with projections for housing and jobs.
Housing and residential land
West Los Angeles had 35,679 total dwelling units in 1990, according to the West Los Angeles Community Plan. Multi-family housing made up most of that inventory: 25,590 units, or 72% of total dwelling units. Single-family housing accounted for 10,089 units, or 28%.
| 1990 housing measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total dwelling units | 35,679 |
| Single-family units | 10,089 |
| Single-family share | 28% |
| Multi-family units | 25,590 |
| Multi-family share | 72% |
Residential land use totaled 2,161 acres, representing 47% of the plan area. Within residential land, low-density residential covered 1,472 acres, or 68%. Low-medium density residential covered 141 acres, or 7%. Medium and high-medium density residential together covered 548 acres, or 25%.
The plan’s residential categories also provide a more detailed picture of modeled capacity. Low-density residential was modeled at 6.5 dwelling units per net acre at the midpoint of its range. Low-medium I was modeled at 13.5 units per net acre, low-medium II at 23.5, medium residential at 42.0, and high-medium residential at 82.0 units per net acre.
These modeled densities were associated with 9,568 dwelling units in the low-density category, 1,296 in low-medium I, 1,058 in low-medium II, 19,530 in medium residential, and 6,806 in high-medium residential. The corresponding net-acre areas were 1,472, 96, 45, 465, and 83 acres.
2010 residential capacity
The West Los Angeles Community Plan’s residential table assigned an expected 2010 population to each density category. Low-density residential had an expected population of 25,260. Low-medium I had 2,449, low-medium II had 2,000, medium residential had 36,130, and high-medium residential had 12,727.
The table reported total dwelling-unit capacity of 38,258, total net acres of 2,161, and a total reasonable expected population of 78,566. These totals are planning-table figures and should not be confused with the plan’s separate General Plan Framework projection of 83,331 people for 2010. The two numbers come from distinct planning references within the community-plan material.
The General Plan Framework also projected 42,877 housing units in the plan area for 2010. Compared with the 38,258-unit total in the residential capacity table, this illustrates why the source’s capacity and projection figures need to remain labeled rather than merged into one estimate.
Commercial, industrial, and civic land use
West Los Angeles had approximately 23.3 million square feet of commercial development in 1990, according to the West Los Angeles Community Plan. Office use accounted for approximately 17.6 million square feet, or 76% of commercial development. Retail use accounted for approximately 5.7 million square feet, or 24%.
Commercial land use totaled 314 acres, or 7% of the community’s total acreage. The plan identified approximately 99 acres for Century City’s regional commercial area. Community Commercial areas totaled approximately 24 acres, Neighborhood Commercial areas approximately 127 acres, and General Commercial areas approximately 64 acres.
Industrial land use totaled 283 acres, or 6% of the community’s total area. Industrial development measured approximately 5.6 million square feet in 1990. The plan stated that this represented 1.8% of the City of Los Angeles’ total industrial square footage.
The community plan designated approximately 55 acres of park land. Together, the commercial, industrial, residential, and park figures describe a plan area where housing occupied the largest stated land-use share, while commercial development carried a substantial office component.
Public services and regional coverage
The West Los Angeles Community Plan identified the West Los Angeles Regional Library at 11360 Santa Monica Boulevard as the area’s primary library service point. A branch library serving the area was located at 2920 Overland Avenue, adjacent to Palms Park. Additional nearby branch libraries were listed at 11820 San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood and 1719 S. Robertson Boulevard.
The plan area’s civic center included a County Courts building, library, post office, police station, and senior center. These facilities indicate the range of civic functions grouped within the plan-area service structure, but the supplied source does not provide attendance, staffing, or annual usage figures for them.
For policing geography, LAPD West Bureau covers 124 square miles and serves approximately 840,400 residents. LAPD West Bureau includes Hollywood, Wilshire, Pacific, and West Los Angeles communities. Its West Traffic Division neighborhoods also include Pacific Palisades, Westwood, Century City, Venice, Hancock Park, and the Miracle Mile. The bureau-wide population and area figures therefore cover a larger geography than West Los Angeles alone.
Healthcare capacity
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center sits on 4 acres on the UCLA campus in West Los Angeles. UCLA Health reports 520 inpatient beds, including 90 pediatric beds and 74 neuropsychiatric beds. The medical center has 25 operating rooms, 6 catheterization labs, and 3 medical procedure units.
The building contains 1,050,000 square feet. UCLA Health reports that the medical center serves 50,386 emergency room patients annually. It was founded in 1955 and reopened in a new 10-story structure in 2008; the supplied description also specifies 8 stories above ground.
| Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Campus area | 4 acres |
| Inpatient beds | 520 |
| Pediatric beds | 90 |
| Neuropsychiatric beds | 74 |
| Operating rooms | 25 |
| Catheterization labs | 6 |
| Medical procedure units | 3 |
| Building area | 1,050,000 sq. ft. |
| Annual emergency room patients | 50,386 |
These measures describe facility scale and reported annual emergency-room activity. They do not establish a current utilization rate or compare the hospital with other Los Angeles facilities.
Veteran housing and VA services
The West Los Angeles VA Medical Center sits on a 388-acre campus with approximately 100 buildings, according to the VA West Los Angeles Campus Master Plan and VA West Los Angeles Healthcare Center Psychology Training material. Master Plan 2022 calls for at least 1,200 units of housing for Veterans and their families. A VA West Los Angeles Peer Center story reported 729 apartments open as of February 2026, while a new campus building added 74 units of Veteran housing.
The VA invested nearly $70 million in 2021 and 2022 combined in the master plan and enhanced-use-lease process, and planned to invest roughly $70 million more in 2023 for that process. Section 705 of the PACT Act allocates an anticipated $381 million through 2036 for West LA Veteran housing. A West LA lease calls for a minimum of 900 units of permanent supportive housing.
The LA Continuum of Care reported a 23% reduction in Veteran homelessness, from 3,878 in 2023 to 2,991 in 2024. Those years and the reported change are explicit in the VA West Los Angeles Campus Master Plan material. They should be kept separate from the housing-unit targets, which describe planned or opened accommodations rather than homelessness counts.
The VA health system reported 716 total operational beds across its hospitals and ambulatory centers. Those beds included 296 domiciliary beds, 224 community living center beds, 82 surgical beds, 48 intensive care beds, 46 inpatient mental health beds, and 20 physical medicine and rehabilitation beds. The categories sum to the reported 716 operational beds.
The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System served over 87,000 Veterans in fiscal year 2025 across 5 counties in Southern California. The same VA West Los Angeles Healthcare Center Psychology Training source describes a system with 1,148 beds, over 5,600 employees, and an annual operating budget of over $1.3 billion. These system-wide figures are broader than the West Los Angeles campus alone.
Finally, the West Los Angeles VA Peer Center served nearly 1,000 Veterans and family members in its first year. That service figure belongs to the Peer Center and should not be interpreted as the total number served by the entire VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.