Orange County is in Southern California.
Southern California . The region is traditionally described as eight counties , based on demographics and economic ties : Imperial , Los Angeles , Orange , Riverside , San Bernardino , San Diego , Santa Barbara , and Ventura . Southern California 's population encompasses seven metropolitan areas : the Los Angeles metropolitan area ( Los Angeles and Orange counties ) , the Inland Empire , ( Riverside and San Bernardino counties ) , the San Diego metropolitan area , the Oxnard -- Thousand Oaks -- Ventura metropolitan area , the Santa Barbara metropolitan area , the San Luis Obispo metropolitan area , and the El Centro area . For Community Supported Agriculture ( CSA ) metropolitan purposes , the five counties of Los Angeles , Orange , Riverside , San Bernardino , and Ventura , are all combined to make up the Greater Los Angeles Area with over 17.5 million people .