VacationSelector
The Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles
Los AngelesThe Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Los Angeles by Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Los Angeles or Vancouver?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Los Angeles for

  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Los Angeles’s own page.

Choose Vancouver for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Los Angeles 60, Vancouver 42: Los Angeles leads by 18 points.
Food & drink. Los Angeles 84, Vancouver 72: Los Angeles leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Los Angeles 66, Vancouver 42: Los Angeles leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Los Angeles 67, Vancouver 42: Los Angeles leads by 25 points.
Nature & outdoors. Los Angeles 80, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Los Angeles 60, Vancouver 45: Los Angeles leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Los Angeles 84, Vancouver 72: Los Angeles leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Los Angeles 25, Vancouver 73: Vancouver leads by 48 points.
Shopping & style. Los Angeles 80, Vancouver 55: Los Angeles leads by 25 points.
Affordability. Los Angeles 24, Vancouver 27: Vancouver leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Los Angeles 83, Vancouver 52: Los Angeles leads by 31 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Los Angeles 60, Vancouver 50: Los Angeles leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Los Angeles and Vancouver.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Los Angeles
Best match
64match

Wins on live music and the arts and nightlife with your weighting.

Vancouver
56match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Los Angeles in July

24 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
Los AngelesVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Los Angeles: 1991-2020 normals, Los Angeles Airport (18.5 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureLos AngelesVancouver
Official language-French, English
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation106 m2 m
Main airportLos Angeles International Airport (LAX)19 km from centre177 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureLos AngelesVancouver
City population3,898,747662,248
People per km²2,9945,759
Museums within 10 km3926
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °CNoneNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Los Angeles or Vancouver somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.