well there are a couple of distinct differences between the two counties, so hopefully the info that i provide will help you choose. The most prominant one is that OC is more suburban. There are a lot of housing Tracts and doesn't have the inner city feel like Downtown LA and surrounding area has. another difference is that OC as a whole is one of the most conservative and wealthiest counties in the United STates. there are a lot of wealthy people that live here, primarily in south OC. LA has some extremely wealthy areas, but there are a lot more people which means there are a lot more poverty stricken areas. also, housing is more expensive in OC. in addition, OC is almost 2/3 white, where as LA is extremely diverse. if you are into the nightlife scene, like i am, then LA is definetely the better place to live within close proximaty to hollywood. where some of the top clubs in the nation are...nevertheless, OC definetely has some good places for bar hoping such as Main street huntington beach and Seal beach mainstreet, as well is Newport area. basically to sum it all up, you should move to LA area if you are into the nightlife party scene, and move to OC if you want to start a family and just want to live in a really nice place...honestly you can't go wrong with either. good luck!