Facts and Information

Population (2016)

Metro Bakersfield 543,400
City of Bakersfield 383,512
Kern County 884,788

City population increased 55.33% between 2000 and 2017.
City land area increased 31.92% between 2000 and 2017.
The median age of Bakersfield’s population is 30.2, giving it
a younger population than either California (35.6) or the U.S. (37.4).

Weather

Average high/low temps 76.8F / 53.1F
Average annual rainfall 6.49”
Sunny days per year 272

Elevation

403’

Square miles (city)

150.43

Population density (city)

2,547 persons/sq. mi.

Location

Located in Kern County (County Seat)

Economy

Bakersfield’s economy is centered on many diverse industries. Agriculture, healthcare, oil, government, and distribution are just a few of the many industries that contribute to one of the fastest growing economies and regions in the nation.

Taxes

State Sales Tax - 7.5 percent

City Sales Tax - none

Hotel Tax (city) - 12 percent

Hotel Tax (county) - 6 percent

Local Media

The Bakersfield area is served by four major local TV affiliates, one local daily newspaper, numerous FM and AM radio stations and many periodic magazines.

• 53nd largest city by population in the U.S. (larger than Honolulu, St. Louis, or Pittsburgh).
• 9th largest city by population in CA (ranked between Oakland and Anaheim).
• Home of the “Bakersfield Sound,” the distinct genre of country music made popular by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Billy Mize and others.
• Home to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, regularly nominated as Nightclub of the Year by the Academy of Country Music.
• Home to the Bakersfield Jazz Festival since 1986.
• Hometown of musical group Korn.
• More than 170 miles of bike trails, lanes, and paths.
• Known for our many Basque restaurants.
• Noriega’s is the oldest, and last, Basque boardinghouse/restaurant in the world. It received the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Award in 2011.
• Home to the nation’s two largest carrot growers.
• Amtrak station is the nation’s 5th busiest in California, 22th busiest in U.S.
• Bakersfield Community Theater is the oldest continually operating community theater in California, and second oldest amateur community theater west of the Mississippi.
• Holiday Lights at CALM named one of the Ten Best Holiday Light Shows in the West by Los Angeles Times in 2016.
• Bakersfield ranks as third-highest city nationwide where millennials are buying homes, according to SmartAssets.com
• Bakersfield is one of only six stops featured on Yelp’s “Perfect West Coast Road Trip” from Seattle to San Diego. The only other intermediate stops are Portland, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.
• Alton Brown kicked off his 42-city “Eat Your Science” food tour in 2017 at Bakersfield’s Fox Theater.
• Guy Fieri spotlighted eight Bakersfield restaurants for his “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” on the Food Network in 2015.
• When it opened May 6, 1950, the Bakersfield F. W. Woolworth’s (1400 19th St.) was the most modernly-equipped and air-conditioned of the chain’s stores on the Pacific Coast. (Source: Kern County Historical Society)
• Bakersfield has a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. However, it is a private residence with no public tours. Reportedly, it is also the only Wright structure in California that cannot be seen from the street.
• Bakersfield is the inspiration for the Bakersfield chain of restaurants with locations in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Pittsburgh.
• Bakersfield has welcomed U.S. presidents during their terms of office for more than 120 years: Rutherford B. Hayes (1880), Benjamin Harrison (1891), William McKinley (1900), Howard Taft (1909), George W. Bush (2004), and Barack Obama (2012).