Official name | County of Kern |
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Settlement type | County |
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Subdivision type | Country |
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Subdivision name | |
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Subdivision type1 | State |
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Subdivision name1 | |
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Seat type | County seat |
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Seat | Bakersfield |
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Parts type | Largest city |
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Parts | Bakersfield |
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Unit pref | US |
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Area total sq mi | 8161.42 |
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Area land sq mi | 8140.96 |
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Area water sq mi | 20.46 |
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Elevation max footnotes | |
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Elevation max ft | 8755 |
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Elevation min footnotes | The county accounts for one-tenth of overall U.S. oil production, and three of the five largest U.S. oil fields are in Kern County. Kern is also noted for its mineral wealth, including gold, borate, and kernite. The largest open pit mine in California, which mines borax, is at Boron in Kern County. |
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CDPs Under 1,000 population
Adjacent counties
Inyo County, California - northeast
Kings County, California - northwest
Los Angeles County, California - south
Monterey County, California - northwest
San Bernardino County, California - east
San Luis Obispo County, California - west
Santa Barbara County, California - southwest
Tulare County, California - north
Ventura County, California - south
National protected areas
Transportation Infrastructure
Major Highways
Interstate 5
U.S. Route 395
State Route 14
State Route 33
State Route 43
State Route 46
State Route 58
State Route 65
State Route 99
State Route 119
State Route 155
State Route 166
State Route 178
State Route 184
State Route 204
State Route 223
Public transportation
Golden Empire Transit is the local bus operator in and near Bakersfield.
Kern Regional Transit provides countywide intercity bus service.
Kern County is also served by Greyhound and Orange Belt Stages buses and Amtrak trains.
Airports
California City Municipal Airport in California City, California. (FAA: L71)
Delano Municipal Airport in Delano, California. (IATA: DLO)
Inyokern Airport in Inyokern, California. (IATA: IYK)
Kern Valley Airport, in Kernville, California. (FAA: L05)
Lost Hills Airport in Lost Hills, California. (FAA: L84)
Meadows Field in Bakersfield is an international and general aviation airport. (IATA: BFL)
Mojave Airport in Mojave, California. (IATA: MHV)
Shafter Airport (Minter Field) in Shafter, California. (IATA: MIT)
Taft Airport in Taft, California. (FAA: L17)
Tehachapi Municipal Airport in Tehachapi, California. (IATA: TSP)
Wasco Airport in Wasco, California. (FAA: L19)
Flora and fauna
Chaparral comprises a considerable portion of the natural area within Kern County; however, the species diversity within these chaparral habitats is considerably less than in many other regions of California.
California Whitethorn is a prominent example of chaparral species inhabiting the rocky slopes of the
Sierra Nevada as well as the Inner Coastal Ranges.
California Buckeye is a notable tree that is found in both chaparral and forests and whose southern range terminates in Kern County.
Demographics
2010
The
2010 United States Census reported that Kern County had a population of 839,631. The racial makeup of Kern County was 499,766
White, 48,921
African American, 1,2676
Native American, 34,846
Asian, 1,252
Pacific Islander, 204,314 from
other races, and 37,856 from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 413,033 persons.
{| class="wikitable collapsible" width="100%"
!colspan="10"|Population reported at 2010 United States Census
|-
|The County ||TotalPopulation||White ||
AfricanAmerican ||
NativeAmerican ||
Asian ||
PacificIslander ||
otherraces ||
two ormore races ||
Hispanicor Latino(of any race)
|-
|
Kern County
|align="right"|839,631||align="right"|499,766||align="right"|48,921||align="right"|12,676||align="right"|34,846||align="right"|1,252||align="right"|204,314||align="right"|37,856||align="right"|413,033
|-
|Incorporatedcity ||TotalPopulation||White ||
AfricanAmerican ||
NativeAmerican ||
Asian ||
PacificIslander ||
otherraces ||
two ormore races ||
Hispanicor Latino(of any race)
|-
|
Arvin
|align="right"|19,304||align="right"|10,247||align="right"|192||align="right"|240||align="right"|155||align="right"|6||align="right"|7,655||align="right"|809||align="right"|17,892
|-
|
Bakersfield
|align="right"|347,483||align="right"|197,349||align="right"|28,368||align="right"|5,102||align="right"|21,432||align="right"|478||align="right"|77,686||align="right"|17,068||align="right"|158,205
|-
|
California City
|align="right"|14,120||align="right"|9,188||align="right"|2,150||align="right"|132||align="right"|367||align="right"|59||align="right"|1,431||align="right"|793||align="right"|5,385
|-
|
Delano
|align="right"|53,041||align="right"|19,304||align="right"|4,191||align="right"|501||align="right"|6,757||align="right"|30||align="right"|20,307||align="right"|1,951||align="right"|37,913
|-
|
Maricopa
|align="right"|1,154||align="right"|958||align="right"|1||align="right"|27||align="right"|16||align="right"|2||align="right"|112||align="right"|38||align="right"|232
|-
|
McFarland
|align="right"|12,707||align="right"|5,433||align="right"|236||align="right"|171||align="right"|84||align="right"|6||align="right"|6,330||align="right"|447||align="right"|11,625
|-
|
Ridgecrest
|align="right"|27,616||align="right"|21,387||align="right"|1,113||align="right"|341||align="right"|1,209||align="right"|143||align="right"|1,836||align="right"|1,587||align="right"|4,941
|-
|
Shafter
|align="right"|16,988||align="right"|8,150||align="right"|219||align="right"|198||align="right"|111||align="right"|19||align="right"|7,645||align="right"|646||align="right"|13,634
|-
|
Taft
|align="right"|9,327||align="right"|7,388||align="right"|396||align="right"|118||align="right"|93||align="right"|65||align="right"|1,023||align="right"|244||align="right"|3,353
|-
|
Tehachapi
|align="right"|14,414||align="right"|9,426||align="right"|1,297||align="right"|206||align="right"|238||align="right"|21||align="right"|2,725||align="right"|501||align="right"|5,466
|-
|
Wasco
|align="right"|25,545||align="right"|12,579||align="right"|1,951||align="right"|283||align="right"|180||align="right"|12||align="right"|9,714||align="right"|826||align="right"|19,585
|-
|
Census-designatedplace ||
TotalPopulation||
White ||
AfricanAmerican ||
NativeAmerican ||
Asian ||
PacificIslander ||
otherraces ||
two ormore races ||
Hispanicor Latino(of any race)
|-
|
Bear Valley Springs
|align="right"|5,172||align="right"|4,776||align="right"|74||align="right"|46||align="right"|57||align="right"|3||align="right"|89||align="right"|127||align="right"|399
|-
|
Bodfish
|align="right"|1,956||align="right"|1,758||align="right"|4||align="right"|50||align="right"|13||align="right"|3||align="right"|49||align="right"|79||align="right"|189
|-
|
Boron
|align="right"|2,253||align="right"|1,746||align="right"|162||align="right"|49||align="right"|47||align="right"|4||align="right"|141||align="right"|104||align="right"|406
|-
|
Buttonwillow
|align="right"|1,508||align="right"|534||align="right"|36||align="right"|11||align="right"|10||align="right"|0||align="right"|890||align="right"|27||align="right"|1,183
|-
|
Cherokee Strip
|align="right"|227||align="right"|84||align="right"|0||align="right"|4||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|117||align="right"|22||align="right"|187
|-
|
China Lake Acres
|align="right"|1,876||align="right"|1,601||align="right"|35||align="right"|29||align="right"|16||align="right"|7||align="right"|84||align="right"|104||align="right"|265
|-
|
Derby Acres
|align="right"|322||align="right"|289||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|23||align="right"|9||align="right"|36
|-
|
Dustin Acres
|align="right"|652||align="right"|539||align="right"|4||align="right"|9||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|71||align="right"|28||align="right"|129
|-
|
Edmundson Acres
|align="right"|279||align="right"|108||align="right"|5||align="right"|3||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|143||align="right"|19||align="right"|225
|-
|
Edwards Air Force Base
|align="right"|2,063||align="right"|1,518||align="right"|165||align="right"|16||align="right"|99||align="right"|10||align="right"|96||align="right"|159||align="right"|355
|-
|
Fellows
|align="right"|106||align="right"|94||align="right"|1||align="right"|5||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|2||align="right"|4||align="right"|11
|-
|
Ford City
|align="right"|4,278||align="right"|2,735||align="right"|28||align="right"|153||align="right"|36||align="right"|32||align="right"|1,113||align="right"|181||align="right"|1,971
|-
|
Frazier Park
|align="right"|2,691||align="right"|2,297||align="right"|16||align="right"|31||align="right"|22||align="right"|3||align="right"|212||align="right"|110||align="right"|528
|-
|
Fuller Acres
|align="right"|991||align="right"|607||align="right"|13||align="right"|12||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|329||align="right"|29||align="right"|768
|-
|
Golden Hills
|align="right"|8,656||align="right"|7,235||align="right"|129||align="right"|124||align="right"|120||align="right"|15||align="right"|670||align="right"|363||align="right"|1,674
|-
|
Greenacres
|align="right"|5,566||align="right"|4,612||align="right"|49||align="right"|116||align="right"|70||align="right"|8||align="right"|511||align="right"|200||align="right"|1,119
|-
|
Greenfield
|align="right"|3,991||align="right"|2,512||align="right"|71||align="right"|63||align="right"|45||align="right"|1||align="right"|1,112||align="right"|187||align="right"|2,263
|-
|
Inyokern
|align="right"|1,099||align="right"|930||align="right"|14||align="right"|24||align="right"|25||align="right"|2||align="right"|49||align="right"|55||align="right"|116
|-
|
Johannesburg
|align="right"|172||align="right"|152||align="right"|2||align="right"|2||align="right"|8||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|8||align="right"|8
|-
|
Keene
|align="right"|431||align="right"|385||align="right"|2||align="right"|10||align="right"|8||align="right"|0||align="right"|16||align="right"|10||align="right"|47
|-
|
Kernville
|align="right"|1,395||align="right"|1,257||align="right"|1||align="right"|19||align="right"|7||align="right"|0||align="right"|33||align="right"|78||align="right"|82
|-
|
Lake Isabella
|align="right"|3,466||align="right"|3,069||align="right"|6||align="right"|96||align="right"|18||align="right"|7||align="right"|73||align="right"|197||align="right"|339
|-
|
Lake of the Woods
|align="right"|917||align="right"|820||align="right"|3||align="right"|18||align="right"|11||align="right"|0||align="right"|34||align="right"|31||align="right"|123
|-
|
Lamont
|align="right"|15,120||align="right"|6,677||align="right"|130||align="right"|230||align="right"|72||align="right"|9||align="right"|7,351||align="right"|651||align="right"|14,293
|-
|
Lebec
|align="right"|1,468||align="right"|1,152||align="right"|14||align="right"|46||align="right"|17||align="right"|0||align="right"|148||align="right"|91||align="right"|395
|-
|
Lost Hills
|align="right"|2,412||align="right"|132||align="right"|5||align="right"|1||align="right"|17||align="right"|1||align="right"|2,232||align="right"|24||align="right"|2,354
|-
|
McKittrick
|align="right"|115||align="right"|101||align="right"|1||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|7||align="right"|5||align="right"|9
|-
|
Mettler
|align="right"|136||align="right"|74||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|43||align="right"|19||align="right"|109
|-
|
Mexican Colony
|align="right"|281||align="right"|162||align="right"|0||align="right"|15||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|93||align="right"|11||align="right"|227
|-
|
Mojave
|align="right"|4,238||align="right"|2,381||align="right"|638||align="right"|54||align="right"|53||align="right"|19||align="right"|867||align="right"|226||align="right"|1,592
|-
|
Mountain Mesa
|align="right"|777||align="right"|687||align="right"|7||align="right"|16||align="right"|6||align="right"|2||align="right"|27||align="right"|32||align="right"|77
|-
|
North Edwards
|align="right"|1,058||align="right"|847||align="right"|43||align="right"|26||align="right"|20||align="right"|1||align="right"|60||align="right"|61||align="right"|179
|-
|
Oildale
|align="right"|32,684||align="right"|27,463||align="right"|255||align="right"|590||align="right"|316||align="right"|30||align="right"|2,635||align="right"|1,395||align="right"|6,301
|-
|
Onyx
|align="right"|475||align="right"|406||align="right"|4||align="right"|9||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|16||align="right"|40||align="right"|30
|-
|
Pine Mountain Club
|align="right"|2,315||align="right"|2,079||align="right"|29||align="right"|25||align="right"|45||align="right"|0||align="right"|58||align="right"|79||align="right"|231
|-
|
Randsburg
|align="right"|69||align="right"|62||align="right"|0||align="right"|4||align="right"|2||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|1||align="right"|2
|-
|
Rosamond
|align="right"|18,150||align="right"|11,294||align="right"|1,476||align="right"|221||align="right"|658||align="right"|66||align="right"|3,258||align="right"|1,177||align="right"|6,230
|-
|
Rosedale
|align="right"|14,058||align="right"|11,695||align="right"|208||align="right"|159||align="right"|389||align="right"|24||align="right"|997||align="right"|586||align="right"|2,495
|-
|
Smith Corner
|align="right"|524||align="right"|227||align="right"|10||align="right"|3||align="right"|2||align="right"|3||align="right"|263||align="right"|16||align="right"|440
|-
|
South Taft
|align="right"|2,169||align="right"|1,404||align="right"|21||align="right"|55||align="right"|5||align="right"|11||align="right"|596||align="right"|77||align="right"|931
|-
|
Squirrel Mountain Valley
|align="right"|547||align="right"|509||align="right"|2||align="right"|9||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|13||align="right"|13||align="right"|22
|-
|
Stallion Springs
|align="right"|2,488||align="right"|2,239||align="right"|30||align="right"|26||align="right"|32||align="right"|7||align="right"|79||align="right"|75||align="right"|285
|-
|
Taft Heights
|align="right"|1,949||align="right"|1,602||align="right"|15||align="right"|35||align="right"|11||align="right"|0||align="right"|220||align="right"|66||align="right"|441
|-
|
Tupman
|align="right"|161||align="right"|149||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|0||align="right"|2||align="right"|10||align="right"|12
|-
|
Valley Acres
|align="right"|527||align="right"|428||align="right"|1||align="right"|10||align="right"|1||align="right"|0||align="right"|42||align="right"|45||align="right"|121
|-
|
Weedpatch
|align="right"|2,658||align="right"|1,212||align="right"|8||align="right"|78||align="right"|14||align="right"|0||align="right"|1,237||align="right"|109||align="right"|2,484
|-
|
Weldon
|align="right"|2,642||align="right"|2,375||align="right"|5||align="right"|82||align="right"|11||align="right"|1||align="right"|53||align="right"|115||align="right"|217
|-
|
Wofford Heights
|align="right"|2,200||align="right"|2,037||align="right"|6||align="right"|41||align="right"|10||align="right"|1||align="right"|26||align="right"|79||align="right"|156
|-
|
Unincorporatedcommunities ||
TotalPopulation||
White ||
AfricanAmerican ||
NativeAmerican ||
Asian ||
PacificIslander ||
otherraces ||
two ormore races ||
Hispanicor Latino(of any race)
|-
|All others not CDPs (combined)
|align="right"|138,644||align="right"|81,305||align="right"|5,079||align="right"|2,730||align="right"|1,907||align="right"|141||align="right"|41,670||align="right"|5,812||align="right"|82,746
|}
2000
According to the
census of 2000, there were 661,645 people, 208,652 households, and 156,489 families residing in the county. The
population density was 81 people per square mile (31/km²). There were 231,564 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.60%
White, 6.02%
Black or
African American, 3.37%
Asian, 1.51%
Native American, 0.15%
Pacific Islander, 23.22% from
other races, and 4.14% from two or more races. 38.39% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. 8.4% were of
German, 7.2%
American and 5.7%
Irish ancestry according to
Census 2000. 66.8% spoke
English, 29.1%
Spanish and 1.0%
Tagalog as their first language.
There were 208,652 households out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.50.
In the county the population was spread out with 31.9% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 105.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.3 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,446, and the median income for a family was $39,403. Males had a median income of $38,097 versus $25,876 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,760. About 16.8% of families and 20.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.8% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
The center of population of California is located in Kern County, in the town of Buttonwillow .
Racial/cultural tensions
After being informed that gay couples could not be denied marriage licenses in light of the legalization of same-sex marriage, the county announced a halt to all wedding ceremonies, but will issue marriage licenses as required by law. Officials claimed that there would not be enough resources to accommodate ceremonies for both straight and gay couples. Clerks in other counties have called this rationale "...poorly disguised discrimination against gay and lesbian couples."
Races
White Non-Hispanic (49.5%)
Hispanic (38.4%)
Other race (23.2%)
Black (6.0%)
Two or more races (4.1%)
American Indian (2.6%)
Filipino (1.6%)
Asian Indian (0.7%)
(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)
Politics
Kern is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democratic candidate for President to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Kern is part of California's 20th and 22nd congressional districts, which are held by Democrat Jim Costa and Republican Kevin McCarthy, respectively. In the State Assembly, Kern is part of the 30th, 32nd, 34th and 37th districts. The 30th, 32nd, and 34th districts are held by Republicans David Valadao, Shannon Grove, and Connie Conway respectively. In the State Senate, Kern is part of the 16th and 18th districts, which are held by Democrat Michael Rubio and Republican Jean Fuller respectively.
On Nov. 4, 2008 Kern County voted 75.5% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.
At the county level, Kern County is governed by a five-member board of supervisors. As of 2011, they are: Jon McQuiston representing the 1st District, Zack Scrivner from the 2nd District, Mike Maggard from the 3rd, Ray Watson from the 4th, and Karen Goh from the 5th.
According to the California Secretary of State, as of April 2008, Kern County has 283,732 registered voters. Of those, 101,580 (35.8%) are registered Democratic, 131,878 (46.5%) are registered Republican, 10,752 (3.8%) are registered with other political parties, and 39,522 (13.9%) declined to state a political party. The cities of Bakersfield, California City, Maricopa, Ridgecrest, Taft, Tehachapi, and the unincorporated areas have a plurality or majority of voters registered Republican. All of the other cities and towns have Democratic pluralities or majorities.
Recreation
Kern County's geography offers a wide variety of outdoor geography. Among the outdoor recreational activities are: Horseback riding, water skiing (Lake Buena Vista, Lake Ming, and private ski ranches), offroad biking and dune buggies (
Jawbone Canyon, California City, and Randsburg), auto racing (Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Bakersfield Speedway, Famoso, & and an unnamed half-mile speedway under construction), hunting, paint ball courses, white water rafting, Olympic quality kayaking, snow skiing (Shirley Meadows), shooting ranges (5 Dogs Creek Range), hiking, biking (trails, paths, and roads), camping, fishing, and other activities.
Oil production
While the west side of the county is often associated with the oil industry today, it was an 1899 Bakersfield area discovery along the Kern River, today part of the giant Kern River Oil Field, that was the breakthrough in Kern's oil production. The county today contributes more than three-quarters of all the oil produced onshore in California. Oil was refined here even before the establishment of the county.[ The Buena Vista Petroleum Company was organized and incorporated in 1864.][ Soon thereafter a refinery was built that operated until April 1867 when work ceased because of high freight charges.][
]
The discovery well of the Kern River Oil Field was dug by hand in 1899.[ Soon the towns of Oil City, Oil Center and Oildale came into existence.][
]
Some of the large oil fields in Kern County which are still active include:
Buena Vista Oil Field
Cymric Oil Field
Elk Hills Oil Field
Fruitvale Oil Field
Kern Front Oil Field
Kern River Oil Field
Lost Hills Oil Field
McKittrick Oil Field
Midway-Sunset Oil Field
Mountain View Oil Field
Mount Poso Oil Field
North Belridge Oil Field
Round Mountain Oil Field
South Belridge Oil Field
Media
Newspapers
Bakersfield Californian , Bakersfield, north/west Kern
The Mountain Enterprise, southwest Kern mountains area
Mojave Desert News , east Kern desert area
The Daily Independent , Ridgecrest, China Lake, and The Indian Wells Valley
The Kern Valley Sun, Kern Valley area
The Tehachapi News, Tehachapi.
Bakersfield News, Bakersfield.
Midway Driller Newspaper, Taft.
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California
List of California public officials charged with crimes, Kern County
Footnotes
References
External links
Official website
Kern government web portal
Keysville Massacre, April 19, 1863 - original report from officer in charge.
Category:California counties
Category:Metropolitan areas of California
Category:San Joaquin Valley