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Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately 12.2 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The city’s land area totals 5.71 square miles and, together with the neighboring smaller city of West Hollywood to the east, is entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 32,701. In American popular culture, Beverly Hills has been known as an affluent suburb within Greater Los Angeles. The city is well known for its Rodeo Drive shopping district that includes many designer brands. Throughout its history, the city has been home to many celebrities.

The original inhabitants, the Tongva or Gabrielinos, considered the area a sacred site, naming it the Gathering of the Waters — or, in Spanish, El Rodeo de las Aguas — referring to the confluence of streams that flowed down from Franklin, Coldwater, and Benedict Canyons. In 1838, the Mexican governor of California deeded the land grant El Rodeo de las Aguas to Maria Rita Valdez Villa, the Afro-Latina widow of a Spanish soldier, who built an adobe ranch house near the intersection of present-day Sunset Boulevard and Alpine Drive and raised cattle and horses.

In 1900, Burton Green and his partners purchased the land for the Amalgamated Oil Company and drilled a series of wells that failed to strike oil; however, they struck enough water to support a town. In 1906, Green and his partners reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company. Inspired by Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, Green and his wife renamed the land Beverly Hills. In 1907, landscape architect Wilbur D. Cook was hired to design a street plan for Beverly Hills, laying out curving streets with larger lots on the north side and smaller lots on the south side. In 1912, Green completed construction of the Beverly Hills Hotel, which served as a de facto city hall, community center, and gathering place.

By 1914, the local population was large enough to support the incorporation of Beverly Hills as a city, but real growth didn’t take off until Hollywood’s most glamorous couple, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, bought a lot on Summit Drive and dubbed their home Pickfair. Following their fashionable lead was a host of film industry stars, directors, and producers who began the celebrity mystique that remains a constant of Beverly Hills to this day. The very existence of Beverly Hills was threatened by a proposal to annex the city to Los Angeles in 1923. Residents Will Rogers, Mary Pickford, and others mobilized local voters against the plan, and annexation failed 507 to 337 — an event described as perhaps the first union of show business and politics in American life.

Beverly Hills is transected east-west by three main boulevards. North of Sunset Boulevard are foothills containing the Beverly Hills Hotel and luxurious mansions along winding drives. South of Sunset Boulevard are the flatlands, containing expensive homes and, between Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, many chic shops, boutiques, and department stores. The most exclusive of these are on Rodeo Drive and Two Rodeo Drive, a multilevel shopping street in mock Mediterranean style.

The largest ethnic groups in Beverly Hills are White (Non-Hispanic) at 73.7%, Asian (Non-Hispanic) at 11.9%, with a notably large Iranian-American community. The median household income is $127,979 and the median age is 47.7 years. The per capita income is $114,334, and the median home value exceeds $1 million.

Beverly Hills is a general law city governed by a five-member city council, including the mayor and vice mayor. The city council hires a city manager to carry out policies and serve as executive officer. As of April 2025, Sharona R. Nazarian is mayor, John Mirisch is vice mayor, and Lester Friedman, Craig Corman, and Mary Wells are councilmembers. Nancy Hunt-Coffey serves as city manager.

In 1928, oilman Edward L. Doheny finished construction of Greystone Mansion, a 55-room mansion meant as a wedding present for his son. The house is now owned by the city of Beverly Hills and is a designated historical landmark. The Beverly Wilshire Hotel opened on Wilshire Boulevard in 1928 between El Camino and Rodeo Drives, part of the old Beverly Hills Speedway.

Beverly Hills frequently appears in popular culture as a place of conspicuous wealth or luxury. In films such as Pretty Woman (1990), substantial filming took place in the city. Beverly Hills Cop (1984), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971), and the 1990s soap opera Beverly Hills, 90210 all prominently feature or reference the city.

Among the many celebrities who have resided in Beverly Hills are Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, Harrison Ford, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Rudolph Valentino.

City of Beverly Hills