Chart: Population and Employment at Each LA Metro Station (Ranked)

While performing some demographic research we came up with some estimates of population and employment within 1/2-mile of Metro rail and BRT (Orange Line) stations, and we thought it’d be fun to share with the community.

The first chart shows populations and employment near each station, with stations grouped by Metro line (Expo, Gold, Red, Blue, etc.). We spotted a few interesting facts right off the bat:

The Red and Purple Lines have far higher population and employment density than most other stations;

the population/employment densities at the Orange Line are comparable to those of the Green Line, perhaps even higher;

while the Gold and Blue Line stations both have comparable population densities, employment density seems to be considerably higher for the Gold Line;

unsurprisingly, Downtown stations stand out for their high employment densities; and

two Green Line stations, Mariposa and El Segundo, appear to have fewer than 100 residents within a half-mile.

Here’s the first chart, and feel free to comment if you see any of your own interesting revelations in the data:

And for those interested, here’s another version, with the stations ranked by population density:

Note about methodology: This data was collected using Esri Business Analyst, taking 2014 data at the census tract level and adding the share of each census tract that falls within the half-mile radius of a transit station. For example, a census tract with a population of 5,000 residents that had 50% of its total area within the half-mile radius of a station would contribute 2,500 residents to the total for that station. If there were four census tracts that each had half of their area within the half-mile radius, the total estimated population within the station area would be 10,000. Densities within census tracts vary, of course, so this isn’t a perfect estimate, but we believe that it’s a relatively close approximation.

