Bakersfield, California

The location of Bakersfield in Kern County.

Bakersfield is a large city in the state of California, in the United States. It the county seat of Kern County, in the southern part of the Central Valley. In the 2020 census, 403,455 people lived there.^[1] As of 2020, Bakersfield is the 9th largest city in California, the 3rd largest inland city in California, and the 48th largest in the United States. It is also the 2nd largest in the United States that is not directly connected to an interstate. Agriculture, petroleum processing, and manufacturing are the main economy of the city.

State Route 99, State Route 58, and State Route 178 run through or pass by the city. One major rail station, Bakersfield Station, is in the city. Meadows Field Airport is the airport that serves Bakersfield, and the rest of Kern County.

Demographics

2020 census

In the 2020 census, there were 403,455 people, 127,864 households, and 96,201 families living in Bakersfield. The population density was 2,693.7 people per square mile (1,040.1/km²). There were 132,697 housing units. The breakdown by race was 38.9% White, 7.8% Asian, 7.0% Black, 1.8% Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 27.6% from one other race, and 16.6% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos made up 52.7% of the people.

The median (middle) age was 32.4 years. The age breakdown was 28.7% under age 18, 59.8% from 18 to 65, and 11.5% over 65. The gender breakdown was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

Of the households, 43.4% had children under age 18, 49.2% had a married couple, 8.1% had an unmarried couple, 26.3% had a woman with no partner, 16.4% had a man with no partner, and 19.2% had one person living alone. The average household size was 3.12 people.^[2]^[3]

Bakersfield, California Media

Spanish priest Francisco Garcés arrived in the Bakersfield area in 1776.
Aerial view of Bakersfield in 1925
The First Baptist Church, built in 1931 in a Spanish Colonial Revival style is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The historic Spanish Baroque Revival style Fox Theater, built in 1930
Truxtun Tower, also referred to as the Bank of America Building, is the tallest in downtown and the second-tallest building in Bakersfield.
The Fox Theater
A minor league hockey game being played at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena