Also see:
-- Sales Tax Distributions to Los Angeles County & Cities
-- Taxable Retail Sales by City in Los Angeles County
Sales taxes within California are broken as follows:
-- 6.00% to the State
-- 1.00% to local city/county operation funds
-- 0.25% to county transportation funds.
Any sales tax above the 7.25% above is levied locally by local city, county, public services, and special districts. California law caps combined local sales taxes at no more than 2.00% above the 7.25%. However, the state legislature routinely authorizes local governments to exceed that cap, through separate legislation. Thus, all sales tax rates throughout Los Angeles County are 9.50% or more. Santa Fe Springs even levies a 10.50% sales tax.
The sales tax rate within unincorporated Los Angeles County is 9.50%. Of the county's 88 incorporated cities, 31 also have a 9.50% sales tax rate. The remaining 56 incorporated cities have sales tax rates higher than that.
Source: California Dept. of Tax and Fee Administration