Who’s Who Among Local Employers

The fattest payrolls belong to government organizations, which make up the top five employers in the region. Boeing stands as the sole aerospace firm in the most recent top 20 rankings. Another striking fact: Only two of the private employers on the 1998 list are wholly owned companies based in the five-county area--Walt Disney and USC. In 1991, there were eight such companies based here.

Top Employers in the Southland

1998

Employer: No. of workers

1. Los Angeles County: 86,616

2. Los Angeles Unified School District: 65,331

3. U.S. government: 52,274

4. University of California: 49,600

5. U.S. Postal Service: 41,426

6. Boeing: 33,700

7. City of Los Angeles: 33,290

8. Kaiser Permanente: 28,575

9. Ralphs Grocery: 25,523

10. American Stores (Lucky, Sav-on): 23,525

11. Walt Disney: 23,225

12. Bank of America: 22,144

13. Safeway (Vons): 20,459

14. Sears: 20,150

15. Tenet Healthcare: 19,445

16. Defense Department: 19,000

17. USC: 17,800

18. Dayton-Hudson (Target, Mervyn’s): 15,953

19. Pacific Telesis Group: 15,860

20. California State University: 15,675

*

1991

Employer: No. of workers

1. Los Angeles County: 78,275

2. McDonnell Douglas: 62,701

3. U.S. government: 59,983

4. Los Angeles Unified School District: 58,538

5. Northrop: 40,000

6. Rockwell International: 34,900

7. Lockheed: 34,619

8. Sears: 29,658

9. Los Angeles County college district*: 28,431

10. Hughes Aircraft: 27,492

11. City of Los Angeles: 27,000

12. American Stores: 24,370

13. Pacific Telesis Group: 21,563

14. Vons: 20,654

15. Pacific Enterprises: 20,354

16. Walt Disney: 20,000

17. Kaiser Permanente: 19,199

18. Bank of America: 19,000

19. TW Services: 17,820

20. TRW: 17,730

Note: Southland comprises Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

*Includes L.A. and other community college districts.

Source: Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County