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Published July 15, 2026
Chevron, the Space Force base, and the aerospace corridor drive most 90245 renter demand. Here is who they are.
El Segundo's rental demand is anchored by a small number of major employers packed into a two square mile city: Chevron's El Segundo refinery, which employs more than 1,100 workers plus about 500 contractors on site, and the Los Angeles Space Force Base, home to Space Systems Command, which supports roughly 6,300 military, civilian, and contractor personnel. Add Northrop Grumman and RTX's aerospace campuses at the city's edges and you have the core of who actually rents in 90245.
Most owners think about El Segundo demand in terms of "aerospace town." That is directionally right, but the specific mix matters if you are trying to price a unit, gauge lease renewal risk, or understand why 90245 rents hold up better than nearby inland submarkets during a downturn. A city with one dominant, cyclical employer is a different risk profile than a city with several large, stable ones. El Segundo is closer to the second case.
Chevron has operated its El Segundo refinery, one of the largest on the West Coast, for more than a century. The facility covers roughly 1,000 acres and has a rated capacity of about 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day, according to the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Chevron's own materials describe a workforce of more than 1,100 direct employees plus roughly 500 additional contractors on site at any given time. Refinery jobs, both Chevron's own and its contractor base, run higher than average wages for the region and tend to be long tenure, which supports steady rather than boom and bust rental demand.
El Segundo also hosts the Los Angeles Space Force Base, formerly Los Angeles Air Force Base, which serves as headquarters for Space Systems Command, the unit responsible for developing and acquiring the Department of Defense's satellite and space systems. According to published base guides, the installation supports roughly 6,300 employees on site and worldwide, spanning military members, civilian federal employees, and contractors. A meaningful share of that contractor workforce lives locally, since much of the surrounding aerospace industry exists specifically to serve this base and its acquisition programs.
Northrop Grumman's Space Park campus, centered in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach with facilities extending into El Segundo's aerospace district, houses more than 8,000 employees across the broader campus, according to the company's own materials, working on satellite manufacturing, microelectronics, and defense systems. RTX, formerly Raytheon, also operates a major space and airborne systems facility in El Segundo at 2000 East Imperial Highway. We were not able to confirm a precise, published RTX or Northrop headcount specific to the El Segundo site alone, since both companies report at the campus or regional level rather than by individual building, so we are stating their presence qualitatively rather than attaching an unverified number.
If you own in or near 90245, your renter pool skews toward stable, well compensated aerospace, defense, and energy sector employees and contractors, many with security clearances or long term government contracts behind their paychecks. That tends to mean fewer surprise vacancies and stronger rent tolerance than a submarket dependent on retail, hospitality, or a single cyclical industry. It also means your competitive comp set should weight proximity to these employers, not just proximity to the beach.
If you want someone tracking which of these employers is hiring, contracting, or expanding near your property so your pricing reflects real demand, that is what we do.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with a licensed professional before you act.
Last verified: July 2026.
Topics: market, el-segundo, aerospace, employer-anchors, south-bay
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Schofield Properties is a family run property management company at 323 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245. We have managed the South Bay since 1972 and personally oversee about 186 doors today. Book a call to talk about your property.
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