Why LinkedIn Should Give Orange County Its Own Location
An article we liked from Thought Leader Todd Herschberg of Orange County Executives & Networkers (OCEAN):
Orange County Has America's 16th-Largest Metropolitan-Scale Economy. So Why Does LinkedIn Keep Calling Us Greater Los Angeles?
Orange County, California, is one of America’s largest county-level business communities.
With approximately 3.15 million residents, a labor force exceeding 1.6 million, and a diversified economy spanning technology, healthcare, financial services, advanced manufacturing, tourism, and professional services, it is a substantial employment and business market in its own right.
Yet LinkedIn’s reported tendency to classify Orange County professionals under the broader label “Greater Los Angeles” presents challenges for recruiters, advertisers, employers, regional business associations, and members who wish to identify accurately with the Orange County market.
If Orange County were compared as an independent metropolitan area, its population would place it approximately 19th nationally. Its roughly $351.8 billion in 2024 nominal GDP would place it approximately 16th among metropolitan-scale economies, using a reconstructed comparison. These are hypothetical comparisons, not official metropolitan rankings.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics already measures the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine Metropolitan Division separately from the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale Metropolitan Division. LinkedIn can retain broader Greater Los Angeles geography while allowing Orange County to be selected, searched, targeted, and reported independently.
We respectfully request that LinkedIn
Maintain “Orange County, California, United States” as a permanent, selectable professional location.
Preserve a member’s explicit Orange County location preference rather than automatically replacing it with Greater Los Angeles.
Make Orange County consistently searchable in applicable people-search, Recruiter, Sales Navigator, and advertising products.
Support accurate county-specific reporting, with privacy and product eligibility safeguards.
Keep Greater Los Angeles as an optional parent geography, not a compulsory replacement.
1. Orange County Is a Major Population Center in Its Own Right
The U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate places Orange County at 3,149,507 residents. The county includes major business and employment centers such as Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Orange, and Fullerton.
Orange County is not simply a small suburban enclave. It has its own municipalities, corporate centers, institutions, universities, employers, professional organizations, and regional economic-development infrastructure. For businesses serving customers and employees in the county, “Orange County” communicates something substantially more precise than “Greater Los Angeles.”
Population alone is not sufficient to justify a geographic taxonomy decision, but the combination of population scale, economic output, and separately tracked labor-market conditions makes a strong case for a first-class professional location.
2. Federal Labor Statistics Already Recognize Orange County Separately
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics distinguishes the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine Metropolitan Division, corresponding to Orange County, from the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale Metropolitan Division, corresponding to Los Angeles County. Both sit within the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
This distinction permits separate reporting of employment, unemployment, and labor-force conditions. For August 2026, BLS reported a civilian labor force of approximately 1.60 million and unemployment of 4.4% for the Orange County division, versus approximately 4.99 million and 4.9% for the Los Angeles County division. The differing data underline the analytical value of retaining the distinction.
We are not proposing a change to federal MSA boundaries. Instead, LinkedIn should use the already established county and metropolitan-division geography to offer users a precise professional designation.
3. Orange County Would Rank Among America’s 20 Largest Metropolitan Areas by Population
At 3,149,507 residents in 2025, Orange County would rank approximately 19th when placed alongside existing U.S. metropolitan statistical areas as though it were independent. It is larger than…
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Thanks for this article excerpt and its graphics to Todd Herschberg, Founder of Orange County Executives & Networkers (OCEAN).
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