Long Beach is a large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 451,307 people and 111 associated neighborhoods, Long Beach is the seventh largest community in California.

Housing costs in Long Beach are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

Of important note, Long Beach is also a city of artists. Long Beach has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Long Beach’s character.

Also of interest is that Long Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.49% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Long Beach is a popular destination for single career-starters. One thing that you will notice when you are out and about town is that there is a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters out at restaurants, listening to live music, and enjoying other activities. They are a real visible part of the culture of Long Beach. This makes Long Beach a good place to live for young professionals. With so many people in this demographic, Long Beach presents many opportunities for single professionals to enjoy themselves, socialize, and to create lasting relationships.

Long Beach is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Long Beach, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.92 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

Long Beach is a big city, and with that comes lots of benefits. One benefit is that most big cities have public transit, but Long Beach really shines when it comes to the extensiveness and use of its public transit system. More than most large American cities, Long Beach citizens use public transit daily to get to and from work. And while there are transportation options, most people in Long Beach ride the bus. Whereas in some cities one is destined to sit in traffic every morning to get to work and every evening to get home, in Long Beach a lot leave their cars at home (if they even choose to own one), and hop a ride on the bus.

The overall education level of Long Beach citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 33.65% of adults in Long Beach have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Long Beach in 2022 was $39,589, which is middle income relative to California, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $158,356 for a family of four. However, Long Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Long Beach is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Long Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Long Beach, accounting for 44.07% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Long Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Long Beach include German, Irish, English, Italian, and French.

Long Beach also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 24.60%.

The most common language spoken in Long Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.