Qibla Direction in Los Angeles, California

How to face the Qibla in Los Angeles

1. With your phone: tap Open the live Qibla compass, allow location (and, on iPhone, motion access), then turn slowly until the Kaaba on the dial reaches the mark at the top.
2. With a regular compass: hold it flat, turn it until the needle sits on N, then face 12.5° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 23.9° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 11.3° off.
3. With the map: open the live compass, switch to Map and follow the gold line from your position to the Kaaba. It does not use the compass at all.

If a phone compass looks wrong, move the phone in a figure-eight a few times, away from laptops, speakers, car dashboards and magnetic cases, and hold it flat while you turn.

Why the Qibla from Los Angeles points north-northeast

From Los Angeles the Qibla is north-northeast, closer to north than anywhere on the East Coast. A straight line on a Mercator map points 95°, east, but the great circle, the shortest path over the globe, leaves Los Angeles at 23.9° and climbs to about 70° N, far up toward Greenland, before it curves down toward Arabia. The difference between the two lines is about 71°.

Nearby cities

• Anaheim, CA24.2° NNE · 24 mi away
• Irvine, CA24.4° NNE · 35 mi away
• San Diego, CA25.3° NNE · 111 mi away
• Las Vegas, NV26.4° NNE · 228 mi away
• San Jose, CA19.5° NNE · 305 mi away

See every city in the USA, or use the Qibla Finder for your exact spot.