County Maps US

Kern County, California

A county in California, ranked 11 of 58 by population.

CountyFIPS 06029

Within California
Kern County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Bakersfield, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
927,068
+21,108 (+2.3%) since 2020
Land area
8,135
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
114
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Bakersfield
Seat of county government.
Established
1866
159 years ago
Largest city
Bakersfield city
Population 422,165.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Kern County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Kern County, California from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 429 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Kern County ranks

Position among the 58 counties of California, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn CaliforniaNationally
Population927,06811th of 5862nd of 3,144
Land area8,135 sq mi3rd of 5834th of 3,144
Population density114 per sq mi28th of 58827th of 3,144
Median household income$70,21042nd of 581,184th of 3,143

Full data for Kern County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population927,068Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020905,960Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?909,227Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area8,135 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area30.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area8,165 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?114 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$70,210American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$338,300American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age32.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households284,931American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units306,999American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+4,322
11,588 births, 7,266 deaths
Net migration
-2,000
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 8 areas bordering Kern County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
San Luis Obispo CountyCalifornia103 mi282,367
Tulare CountyCalifornia86 mi485,146
Los Angeles CountyCalifornia74 mi9,694,934
San Bernardino CountyCalifornia74 mi2,224,091
Ventura CountyCalifornia39 mi830,851
Kings CountyCalifornia37 mi154,327
Inyo CountyCalifornia22 mi18,158
Santa Barbara CountyCalifornia1.6 mi442,065

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Side by side

All 58 counties of California

Open the interactive California county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.