CoreSite LA2

Los Angeles' broader economy runs on entertainment and media, the largest US port complex at LA/Long Beach (roughly 40 percent of national container traffic), aerospace and defense (SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop), and biotech. Data centers play a supporting rather than leading role here — LA is a content delivery, post-production, and Latin America gateway market rather than a hyperscaler hub. The 12,560 NAICS 518 jobs and 962 establishments make this a mature colocation market built around media, telco, and CDN demand.

The labor pool is enormous (215,000 trades roles) but distributes unusually compared to most data center metros. Security officers form the largest single bloc at 83,280, reflecting the entertainment industry's appetite for physical security and access control. Electricians and HVAC technicians earn nearly identical median wages ($73,810 and $73,830), which is rare — in most metros electricians outpace HVAC by 15 to 25 percent. That makes HVAC an unusually attractive entry point in LA given the apprenticeship is shorter.

For a trades worker, LA suits established electricians and HVAC techs who want a stable, mature market with a small data center component layered into broader commercial work. It is not a growth play like Phoenix or Dallas. Network and systems administrators do exceptionally well at $106,290 median.