Best PlacesRiviera-Westchester, Bakersfield, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Riviera-Westchester, 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.
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield ranks 3,689th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Riviera-Westchester, 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.
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield ranks high
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 90% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 176 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 69% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 67% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 62% of neighborhoods
Where Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,196, 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 Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield's effective rate of 1.01%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield runs younger 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 Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield.
Who works in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield, and how
Work in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 87% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield, month by month
Riviera-Westchester, 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 Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
Schools across Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield average a C+, better than 52% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Beardsley ElementaryF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fruitvale Junior HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Beardsley Junior HighF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Centennial HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Bakersfield HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Riviera-Westchester, 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 Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield
Is Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield ranks 3,689th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $418,441. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $73,196 median income, cost of living beats 35% of neighborhoods.
Is Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield safe?
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield is safer than 27% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $790 per resident a year.
Compare Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Riviera-Westchester, 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.
Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Riviera-Westchester, Bakersfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Riviera-Westchester, 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.