Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Bakersfield ranks 243rd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 187th for income. A household earns $71,596 a year while median rent runs $1,479/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (175th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (297th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 205th and home prices 195th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Bakersfield, your take-home is worth about $57,784 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 187th of 300↑34.9%$71,596
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 238th of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,967
- Per-capita income
- $29,717
- Full-time pay
- $40,288
Housing
- Median rent
- 205th of 300↑55.8%$1,479/mo
- Home value
- 195th of 300↑54.2%$363,600
- Property tax
- $3,168/yr · 0.9%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 294th of 3008.7%
- Bachelor's+
- 293rd of 30019.3%
- Avg commute
- 175th of 30024.8 min
People
- Population
- 922,529
- Population change
- +2.5%
- Median age
- 33.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 21.2%
- Broadband
- 93.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 297th of 30072
- Natural-hazard loss
- 240th of 300$19/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 294th of 30028.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 16.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- —
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — bakersfield ap.
What jobs pay in Bakersfield
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $332,530
- IT managers
- $164,470
- Pharmacists
- $161,930
- Financial managers
- $153,030
- Lawyers
- $150,900
- Software developers
- $130,330
- Registered nurses
- $128,810
- General & operations managers
- $104,460
- Civil engineers
- $99,300
- Secondary school teachers
- $99,150
- Web developers
- $88,240
- Elementary school teachers
- $79,900
- Accountants & auditors
- $79,620
- Police officers
- $78,130
- Electricians
- $75,860
- Carpenters
- $66,540
- Plumbers
- $66,450
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,690
- Construction laborers
- $55,800
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $50,800
- Customer service reps
- $47,310
- Janitors
- $42,490
- Retail salespersons
- $36,320
- Cashiers
- $35,220
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,320
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Bakersfield metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Texas1,115
- Washington707
- Arizona600
- Nevada529
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Bakersfield
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Bakersfield metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Bakersfield metro?
- Median gross rent across the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area is $1,479 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Bakersfield.
- What is the median household income in the Bakersfield metro?
- A typical household in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area earns $71,596 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Bakersfield expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Bakersfield metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $70,967 (versus its face value of $71,596). CityLedger rates the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Bakersfield metro?
- The median home value across the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area is $363,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Bakersfield metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area is 8.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).