El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 17,272 as of the 2020 census, a 3.7% increase from 16,654 in the 2010 census. A significant center of the oil and aerospace industries in Southern California, roughly three quarters of the city's land is dedicated exclusively to industrial and commercial uses, including a Chevron oil refinery which takes up more than a quarter of the city.

History The Tongva (or Gabrieleños) Native American tribes inhabited the area of El Segundo and the Los Angeles coastal area when the Spanish arrived. The area was once a part of Rancho Sausal Redondo ("Round Willow Patch Ranch"). Rancho Sausal Redondo extended from Playa Del Rey in the north to Redondo Beach in the south. Originally a Mexican land grant owned by Antonio Ygnacio Avila, the rancho was later purchased by a Scottish baronet named Sir Robert Burnett in 1860. After his return to Scotland in 1873, the property was purchased by the then-manager of the rancho, Daniel Freeman. Freeman sold portions of the rancho to several persons. George H. Peck owned the of land where the Chevron Refinery now sits. The city acquired its name ("the second" in Spanish) due to being the second Standard Oil refinery on the West Coast when Standard Oil of California purchased the 840 acres of land in 1911. Peck also developed land in neighboring El Porto, where a street still bears his name.

The city was incorporated in 1917. The Standard Oil Company was renamed Chevron in 1984. The El Segundo refinery entered its second century of operation in 2011.Hunter, Eileen Curry. El Segundo Seventy-Five Years El Segundo: H2 Limited, 1991

The Douglas Aircraft Company plant in El Segundo was one of the major aircraft manufacturing facilities in California during World War II. It was one of the major producers of SBD Dauntless dive bombers, which achieved fame in the Battle of Midway. The facility, now operated by Northrop Grumman, is still an aircraft plant.Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, pp. 202-3, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. .Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II, pp. 7-8, 25-34, Cypress, Calif., 2013. .

In 2009, a pair of local artists discovered the Smoky Hollow area, which mainly consisted of commercial properties. Other artists started to migrate as they had been priced out of Venice Beach and Culver City. Not long after, the tech industry also discovered Smoky Hollow.

On the evening of October 2, 2025, an explosion occurred and a fire erupted at the Chevron refinery, which produces 276,000 barrels of crude oil daily.

Geography The northern and southern boundaries of the town are Los Angeles International Airport and Manhattan Beach, with the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary. Its eastern boundary is roughly marked by Aviation Blvd.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a land area of .

The beachfront area neighboring the refinery was once dominated by industrial wharves servicing oil tanker ships, and heavily polluted by sewage and stormwater runoff. The major expansion of the Hyperion wastewater treatment plant in the 1980s was the impetus for rehabilitation of the beach. The old piers were demolished, an underwater oil terminal was constructed a few miles offshore, and an enormous amount of dredged sand was used to restore and dramatically enlarge the once narrow and polluted beach. The Marvin Braude Bike Trail runs along this new artificial beach, as the refinery wharves were one of the last remaining industrial facilities directly obstructing the shoreline of the Santa Monica Bay.

Demographics

El Segundo first appeared as a city in the 1920 U.S. census as part of the now defunct Redondo Township (pop. 5,016 in 1910).

Racial and ethnic composition +El Segundo city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)12,30812,89712,35611,51510,62689.50%84.72%77.07%69.14%61.58%Black or African American alone (NH)641331813213940.47%0.87%1.13%1.93%2.28%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)36595240450.26%0.39%0.32%0.24%0.26%Asian alone (NH)2417331,0051,4271,8041/75%4.82%6.27%8.57%10.44%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)4730610.29%0.18%0.35%Other race alone (NH)21198756880.15%0.12%0.54%0.34%0.51%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx5406561,268xx3.37%3.94%7.34%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,0821,3821,7652,6092,9767.87%9.08%11.01%15.67%17.23%Total13.75215,22316,03316,65417,272100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, El Segundo had a population of 17,272. The population density was . The age distribution was 20.6% under the age of 18, 7.6% aged 18 to 24, 30.7% aged 25 to 44, 28.2% aged 45 to 64, and 12.9% aged 65 or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.6 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 99.7% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 7,175 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.2% were married-couple households, 7.0% were cohabiting couple households, 21.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present, and 26.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.4. There were 4,351 families (60.6% of all households).

There were 7,500 housing units at an average density of , of which 7,175 (95.7%) were occupied. Of occupied units, 42.5% were owner-occupied and 57.5% were renter-occupied. The housing vacancy rate was 4.3%, including a homeowner vacancy rate of 0.9% and a rental vacancy rate of 2.9%.

2010 census

The 2010 United States census reported that El Segundo had a population of 16,654. The population density was . The racial makeup of El Segundo was 12,997 (78.0%) White (69.1% non-Hispanic White), 337 (2.0%) African American, 68 (0.4%) Native American, 1,458 (8.8%) Asian, 38 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 799 (4.8%) from other races, and 957 (5.7%) from two or more races. There were 2,609 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (15.7%).

The Census reported that 16,578 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 66 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 10 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

Of the 7,085 households, 2,183 (30.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,050 (43.0%) were married couples living together, 729 (10.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 326 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present; and 369 (5.2%) were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships. About 31.8% were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34. The city had 4,105 families (57.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.02.

22.3% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.7% was 18 to 24, 31.1% was 25 to 44, 29.8% was 45 to 64, and 10.1%o was 65 or older. The median age was 39.2. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

The 7,410 housing units had an average density of , of which 3,034 (42.8%) were owner-occupied and 4,051 (57.2%) occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.1%. About 49.1% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 50.4% in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States census, El Segundo had a median household income of $84,341, with 4.8% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2023 ACS 5-year estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $149,149, and the per capita income was $80,399. About 2.8% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line. Economy

Oil The name was adopted in 1911 when Chevron built its second refinery, El Segundo, which is Spanish for "the Second".Greenberg, David."Aerospace woes take a toll, but LAX neighbor has bright spots." Los Angeles Business Journal. August 11, 2003. Retrieved on April 13, 2009. This refinery has received crude oil from the Amazon region of South America – more than 5,000 barrels per day. El Segundo is located next to the Hyperion sewage treatment plant and the El Segundo power plant. The El Segundo power plant is operated by the American energy company NRG. NRG was to create a new combined cycle power island, providing power for 240,000 households. The power plant, which came online in 2013, uses two generators: a Siemens gas turbine and an additional steam turbine. Prior to its dissolution, Unocal was headquartered in El Segundo. Unocal Corporation. December 27, 1996. Retrieved on July 7, 2009.. Unocal Corporation. January 29, 2005. Retrieved on July 7, 2009.

Aerospace In 1928, William Mines, an immigrant from Canada, leased land for a flying field.Ripton, Ray. "El Segundo Will Celebrate 50th Year for a Week ." Los Angeles Times. May 14, 1967. In 1930, Los Angeles Municipal Airport, later Los Angeles International Airport, opened north of El Segundo; its presence led to the concentration of aerospace and aviation-related firms in the El Segundo area. Many large aerospace companies have facilities in El Segundo, including the four largest aerospace companies in the US: Boeing, RTX Corporation, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman; many smaller aerospace companies such as Wyle Laboratories, the Aerospace Corporation, and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings all have facilities in El Segundo as well, with Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings being headquartered there. It is also home to the Los Angeles Air Force Base and the Space and Missile Systems Center, which is responsible for space-related acquisition for the military.

The current Boeing factory, the Boeing Satellite Development Center, was originally built by Nash Motors in 1946 and opened in 1948. In 1955, Hughes Aircraft Company purchased the building; it was converted to build missiles and also served as a test facility. At one time, MGM Grand Air had its headquarters in El Segundo."World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 23–29, 1994. 106.

"Gundo" and hard-tech resurgence Aerospace manufacturing declined in the 1990s due to industry consolidation and offshoring. In the 21st century, the city has experienced a resurgence as a hub for hardware innovation and "hard-tech" startups, referred to as "Gundo" by locals and in the industry. The establishment of SpaceX in the city in 2002 helped trigger this revitalization. Former SpaceX employees have since founded numerous startups in the area, using the city's legacy of machine shops and industrial zoning.