Best PlacesBenton Park, Bakersfield, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Benton Park, 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.
Benton Park, Bakersfield ranks 5,326th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Tree cover pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Benton Park, 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.
Benton Park, Bakersfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Benton Park, Bakersfield ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 176 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- School gradeC+, better than 76% of neighborhoods
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 66% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 65% of neighborhoods
Where Benton Park, Bakersfield ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Benton Park, Bakersfield
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Benton Park, Bakersfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,860, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Benton Park, Bakersfield's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Benton Park, Bakersfield
Benton Park, Bakersfield runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Benton Park, Bakersfield.
Who works in Benton Park, Bakersfield, and how
Work in Benton Park, Bakersfield centers on retail trade and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Benton Park, Bakersfield
Benton Park, Bakersfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Benton Park, Bakersfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Benton Park, Bakersfield, month by month
Benton Park, Bakersfield sees roughly 176 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 102° | 88° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 69° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Benton Park, Bakersfield
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Benton Park, Bakersfield
Schools across Benton Park, Bakersfield average a C+, better than 76% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- West HighA+ · 90% proficient
- South HighA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Benton Park, Bakersfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Benton Park, 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 Benton Park, Bakersfield against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Benton Park, Bakersfield
Is Benton Park, Bakersfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Benton Park, Bakersfield ranks 5,326th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and good schools, and lowest on tree cover and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Benton Park, Bakersfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,747. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $58,860 median income, cost of living beats 13% of neighborhoods.
Is Benton Park, Bakersfield safe?
Benton Park, Bakersfield is safer than 34% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $642 per resident a year.
Compare Benton Park, Bakersfield with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Benton Park, Bakersfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Benton Park, 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.
Benton Park, Bakersfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Benton Park, Bakersfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Benton Park, Bakersfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Benton Park, Bakersfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Benton Park, Bakersfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Benton Park, 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.