Lake Los Angeles is a census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, in the high desert of the Antelope Valley, about 17 miles east of Palmdale's civic center. The 2020 census counted 13,187 residents. Its name is aspirational rather than descriptive: there is no lake, and the community developed in the mid-twentieth century as a large-tract desert subdivision marketed to buyers seeking affordable land within reach of the Los Angeles region. The area sits on broad, flat desert terrain punctuated by Joshua trees and creosote scrub, with the San Gabriel Mountains rising to the south and west. Much of the community follows a spacious grid of rural roads, many still unpaved, with homes on acreage that often accommodates horses, livestock, workshops, and recreational vehicles. This low-density pattern distinguishes Lake Los Angeles from the more urbanized cities of Palmdale and Lancaster to the west and north. Public education is provided by the Palmdale School District for elementary and middle grades and the Antelope Valley Union High School District for high school, with the community's own Lake Los Angeles Elementary serving the immediate area. Because employment, shopping, and higher-level services are concentrated in Palmdale and Lancaster, commuting is a fact of daily life, generally along the Sierra Highway and Pearblossom Highway corridors. The community appeals to people who want open space, dark skies, and relative quiet while remaining tied to the Antelope Valley's economy and the broader Los Angeles basin beyond. It sits near the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and the western Mojave's recreational lands, reinforcing its identity as a high-desert place apart from the coast and the city.