Best PlacesBakersfield, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bakersfield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bakersfield ranks 39,255th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bakersfield
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Bakersfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bakersfield ranks high
- Cheap childcare$336 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 70% of towns
Where Bakersfield ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bakersfield
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bakersfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,921, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Bakersfield's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bakersfield
Bakersfield runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bakersfield.
Who works in Bakersfield, and how
Work in Bakersfield centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Bakersfield
Bakersfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Bakersfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bakersfield, month by month
Bakersfield sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Bakersfield
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 159 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bakersfield
Schools across Bakersfield average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Fork Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Bakersfield Elem.C · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Plains MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Gainesville HighB− · 45% proficient
- West Plains Sr. HighB− · 44% proficient
- Bakersfield HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bakersfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bakersfield measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Bakersfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bakersfield
Is Bakersfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bakersfield ranks 39,255th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bakersfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,148. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $65,921 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Bakersfield safe?
Bakersfield is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare Bakersfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bakersfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bakersfield represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Bakersfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bakersfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bakersfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bakersfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bakersfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bakersfield detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.