Los Angeles is in the United States.
Los Angeles . With a census-estimated 2017 population of 4,042,000 , it is the second-most populous city in the United States ( after New York City ) and the most populous city in the state of California . Los Angeles is the center of the Los Angeles metropolitan area , and is part of the larger designated Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area ( CSA ) , the second most populous in the nation with a 2015 estimated population of 18.7 million . United States . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the largest city is New York City ; nine other major metropolitan areas -- each with at least 4.5 million inhabitants and the largest having more than 13 million people -- are Los Angeles , Chicago , Dallas , Houston , Philadelphia , Miami , Atlanta , Boston , and San Francisco .