Study: Bakersfield among cities where consumer spending has recovered the most

Excerpted from Louisville Business First

Bakersfield is one of the top cities in the nation where consumer spending has recovered the most, according to a recent report from SmartAsset.

SmartAsset analyzed data for 51 of the largest U.S. cities to identify where consumer spending has recovered the most since the pandemic began.

Bakersfield ranks No. 5 on the SmartAssets list, sharing that spot with Minneapolis and Salt Lake City. In addition to ranking high nationally, Bakersfield is the only large California city on the list.

According to the report,

“Bakersfield, California has the 12th-highest June 2020 consumer spending in the study. Furthermore, it has the 13th-highest percentage point recovery in the study (i.e. the difference between its lowest point in consumer spending and June 2020 consumer spending). As of June 30, 2020, consumer spending was 8.5% lower than it was in January 2020, and from its low of -36.6%, consumer spending recovered by more than 28 percentage points.”

Here is what SmartAsset said about California cities overall:

“Thus far, California cities have seen some of the slowest recoveries of consumer spending. California’s two largest cities – Los Angeles and San Francisco – both rank in the bottom five cities in our study. In both cities, consumer spending as of the end of June was still roughly 20% lower than it was in January. Four additional California cities also rank in the bottom half of the study: Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Fresno”.

These top ten cities are where consumer spending has recovered the most, according to SmartAsset:

  1. Detroit
  2. Boston
  3. Philadelphia
  4. Boise
  5. Minneapolis (tie)
  6. Bakersfield (tie)
  7. Salt Lake City (tie)
  8. Wichita
  9. Oklahoma City
  10. Baltimore

These are the cities where consumer spending has recovered the least:

  1. Nashville
  2. Washington D.C.
  3. Los Angeles
  4. San Francisco
  5. El Paso
  6. Seattle
  7. Oakland
  8. Raleigh
  9. Miami
  10. Houston

The study ranked cities according to two metrics: consumer spending as of June 30, 2020 relative to average spending in January 2020, as well as percentage point recovery (i.e. the difference between the lowest point in consumer spending during COVID-19 and consumer spending as of June 30, 2020).

You can read the full report here.