Women Veterans in Los Angeles County

Female, Woman, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Los Angeles

Just four of thousands of Los Angeles County women who served in the U.S. military:
Top Left: U.S. Air Force Lt. General Stayce Harris of Los Angeles (USAF photo). In 2001, first African American woman to command a flying squadron;
Top Right: U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Delia Quintero of Los Angeles, with 82nd Airborne Division (photo by Spc. David Nye);
Bottom Left: U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2 Natalia Grijalva of North Hollywood, on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan (photo by PO3 Shawn Stewart);
Bottom Right: U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Ana Martinez of Los Angeles, training on Parris Island, South Carolina (photo by Cpl. Caitlin Brink).

The U.S. Census estimates that, in 2022, there were 194,745 civilian U.S. military veterans living in Los Angeles County. Of that number, 17,450, or 9 percent, were women. Women veterans in Los Angeles County made up the sixth largest female veteran population among U.S. counties (following Maricopa County, Arizona, Bexar County, Texas, San Diego County, Clark County, Nevada, and Harris County, Texas).

Female Veterans – Age

Data are 2022 U.S. Census 1-Year Estimates

Age Group	Number	Percent of Female Veterans	Percent of All Veterans in Age Group
Total	17,450	100.0%	9.0%
18 to 34 Years	2,889	16.6%	14.7%
35 to 54 Years	6,163	35.3%	13.9%
55 to 64 Years	3,812	21.8%	12.5%
65 to 74 Years	3,003	17.2%	7.5%
75 Years & Over	1,583	9.1%	2.6%

Veterans – Race

Data are 2019 U.S. Census 1-Year Estimates

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Also see: Susan Ahn Cuddy, Navy's First Asian American Female Naval Officer.

First Women Enlisted in the WAAC in the Los Angeles Area, 1942

Photo from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive at UCLA Library.

1942. At the start of America's involvement in World War II, these were the first women from the Los Angeles area accepted for officer training in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) . Captain Robert L. Woods administers the oath to (left to right) Madelyn Miller, Anna W. Wilson, Dorothea Wilson, Emily Davis, Kathryn Johnson and Emily Hathaway.

Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive at the Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

1968. Group portrait of seventeen U.S. Air Force women enlistees and recruiters in Los Angeles.

Race	Number	Percent of All Female Veterans	Percent of All Veterans in Racial Group
American Indian & Alaska Native Alone	234	1.3%	7.8%
Asian Alone	1,740	10.0%	8.6%
Black or African American Alone	3,865	22.1%	12.6%
Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone	236	1.4%	16.9%
White Alone, Not Hispanic or Latino	6,154	35.3%	7.6%
Some Other Race Alone	1,450	8.3%	6.6%
Two or More Races	3,127	17.9%	10.8%
Hispanic or Latino of Any Race	4,615	26.4%	8.8%