Los Angeles

Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the world and quite possibly its most diverse -- in terms of geography, people and economics. Odds are good that your assumptions about Los Angeles are off the mark.

From Wikipedia:

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the western United States.^[50] The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth busiest port in the world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade within the Pacific Rim.^[50] Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third largest economic center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA.^[51][52][53] If counted as a country, the surrounding CSA has the 15^th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, placing it just below Australia and above the Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Indonesia.^[54]

Until the mid-1990s, Los Angeles was home to many major financial institutions in the western United States. Mergers meant reporting to headquarters in other cities. For instance, First Interstate Bancorp merged with Wells Fargo in 1996, Great Western Bank merged with Washington Mutual in 1998, and Security Pacific Bank merged with Bank of America in 1992. Los Angeles was also home to the Pacific Exchange, until it closed in 2001.

The city is home to six Fortune 500 companies. They are aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman, energy company Occidental Petroleum, healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum, engineering firm AECOM, and real estate group CB Richard Ellis.

As of the 2005–2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 48.7% of Los Angeles's population; of which 29.3% were non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 9.9% of Los Angeles's population; of which 9.7% were non-Hispanic blacks. American Indians made up 0.5% of the city's population; of which 0.2% were non-Hispanic. Asian Americans made up 10.6% of the city's population; of which 10.4% were non-Hispanic. Pacific Islander Americans made up 0.2% of the city's population; of which 0.1% were non-Hispanic. Individuals from some other race made up 27.3% of the city's population; of which 0.5% were non-Hispanic. Individuals from two or more races made up 2.8% of the city's population; of which 1.3% were non-Hispanic. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 48.5% of Los Angeles's population.^[93][94]

Full list of City Rankings