Best PlacesBakersfield, TX 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. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bakersfield ranks 31,532nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks 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
- Nice weatherabout 182 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
Where Bakersfield ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bakersfield
A household needs to earn about $28,000 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 $77,513, 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 0.51%, 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 younger than the country.
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 education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bakersfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bakersfield.
What the weather is like in Bakersfield, month by month
Bakersfield sees roughly 182 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March, April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 85° | 68° | 55° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 72° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Bakersfield
The nearest airport, Midland International Air And Space Port, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Antonio International, about 248 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bakersfield
Schools across Bakersfield average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ozona ElC+ · 37% proficient
- Fort Stockton Alamo ElC− · 28% proficient
- Crane ElD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ozona MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Crane MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Iraan J HC · 32% 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 31,532nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a stable housing market, and low taxes, and lowest on thin health care access and crime. 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 $111,100. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $77,513 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Bakersfield safe?
Bakersfield is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $955 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.