Metro area · California

Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area

Bakersfield-Delano, CA is a metropolitan area of 1 county in California, home to 927,068 residents. Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area has a quality-of-life score of 5 out of 100 (very low), ranking #883 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in California it ranks #33 of 34. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), job growth (high) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high), high ozone days (high) and days with unhealthy air (high).

5Very low
Quality-of-life score
#883 of 925 metro and micro areas
California
#33 of 34 in CA
Population
927,068 (2025)
Land area
8,135 mi²
Density
114.0 /mi²
CBSA code
12540

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety9#842/924
  • Economy20#740/925
  • Housing5#878/925
  • Health31#635/925
  • Healthcare28#663/923
  • Environment2#897/917
  • Education11#826/925
  • Infrastructure49#469/925
  • Community12#812/925
  • Leisure & amenities25#693/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bakersfield-Delano, CA metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Bakersfield-Delano, CA

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Kern CountyCentral county10927,068

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. BakersfieldPrincipal city411,986
  2. DelanoPrincipal city51,679

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Bakersfield411,986
  2. Delano51,679
  3. Oildale34,687
  4. East Niles28,532
  5. Ridgecrest28,225
  6. Wasco26,558
  7. Rosamond21,473
  8. Shafter21,193
  9. Arvin19,539
  10. Rosedale18,877
  11. California City14,414
  12. McFarland14,222
  13. Lamont13,164
  14. Tehachapi11,946
  15. East Bakersfield11,062
  16. Hillcrest10,511
  17. Potomac Park10,138
  18. Golden Hills9,891
  19. La Cresta8,389
  20. Taft7,125
  21. Bear Valley Springs5,912
  22. Benton Park5,707
  23. Mojave5,173
  24. Greenacres4,906

Other metro and micro areas in California

Areas based in California, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M12540