Is Reno, Nevada really farther west than Los Angeles?

Yes, Reno is farther west than Los Angeles. Using U.S. Census Bureau coordinates, Reno is at about 119.85 degrees West and Los Angeles at about 118.41 degrees West. A larger west longitude number means a place lies farther west, so Reno wins by roughly 1.4 degrees. [1] [2]

A page checking the Census Bureau's TIGERweb data lists Reno's internal point at 39.549 N, 119.850 W and Los Angeles at 34.019 N, 118.411 W. The difference is 1.439 degrees. That page's own arithmetic converts this to about 83 miles of westward offset along the 34th parallel. Because these are single chosen points inside each city, other points would change the mileage but not the direction. [2]

Other sources give the coordinates in degrees and minutes: Reno at 119°49' West and Los Angeles at 118°14' West. A geography reference book gives the same figures and reaches the same conclusion. [3] [4]

California's coast does not run straight north to south. It angles toward the southeast as it goes from northern to southern California, so by the time you reach Los Angeles you have moved a long way east compared with the coast near San Francisco or the Oregon border. Reno, meanwhile, lies near the western edge of Nevada, close to the California border along the Sierra Nevada. [5] [1]

The common assumption that a coastal city must be farther west than an inland one fails here because the coast itself bends. Travelling from Los Angeles to Reno, one heads west for part of the trip. [6]

The direction is not in doubt, but the quoted distance varies by source. Several popular sources say Reno is about 86 miles west of Los Angeles, while a calculation based on Census internal points gives about 83 miles along the 34th parallel. The difference comes from the points chosen and the method of measuring. The same calculation puts the straight-line distance between the two cities at about 390 miles, with Los Angeles to the south-southeast of Reno. [4] [6] [2]