2021 Best Places to Live in Kern County

Ridgecrest

• Town in California
• Rating 3.45 out of 5  78 reviews

Current Resident: I moved to Ridgecrest the summer before senior year from San Diego California. I wasn't looking forward to it at first because Ridgecrest appeared to be the total opposite of San Diego. However, I soon learnt that Ridgecrest has every single good quality you would imagine a small town to have. It is a close-knit community that cares for eachother. The recent earthquakes truly tested the towns resilience and really highlighted the people here. The only thing I would change about Ridgecrest is the efficiency of buildings, roads, and other facilities being fixed or built. Roads for example, take much longer than necessary to fix and often cause an inconvenience.
Read 78 Reviews

• grade A minus

• grade A minus

• 28,755 Population

Rosedale

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 4.25 out of 5  4 reviews

Current Resident: I think it's a very nice place to live. A few schools, houses with plenty of room and good for an established family. The only downside being that the neighborhood is increasing and condos are being put in. Part of Rosedale's appeal is that it's small and not quite as busy as the rest of the town, but now there's more traffic, more car accidents, and more homeless shifting to this part of Bakersfield.
Read 4 Reviews

• grade B

• grade B+

• 16,820 Population

Greenacres

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 3.24 out of 5  134 reviews

Current Resident: Great place to live and great places to eat too. My favorite is Mountain Mike’s Pizza just around the corner
Read 134 Reviews

• grade B

• grade A minus

• 5,911 Population

China Lake Acres

• Town in California

• grade B minus

• grade A minus

• 2,136 Population

Taft

• Town in California
• Rating 3.62 out of 5  13 reviews

Current Resident: Taft is a wonderful small town that is very safe. There is rarely anything bad happening and everyone knows each other. If you love small towns, Taft is the perfect place for you. We only have one high school and one middle school, so all the students grow up together. Usually, everybody's families all live here, so you never have to worry about traveling far. We are 45 minutes away from Bakersfield, 3 hours away from Disneyland, and 5 hours away from San Francisco. We are close to everything, so it makes traveling a breeze. There are many family owned businesses and we are the local oil field town. I love living in Taft because I love the small community, the people, and being close to all my family. All in all, if you're looking for a small community to raise a family in, Taft is the perfect place for you.
Read 13 Reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• 9,372 Population

Rosamond

• Town in California
• Rating 3.16 out of 5  50 reviews

Current Resident: Out of the cities in the Antelope Valley Rosamond and Tehachapi are the best places to live. There is less crime in both of these towns, ample growth potential in Rosamond and the people are mostly friendly. On the west side of the train tracks is the better side to live on, there is less marijuana smell. If you like that smell then you will love the east side as there are 20 and growing pot shops in this town all located in that area. Personally I stay away from them as much as I can. There are more business coming to Rosamond which allows for more jobs available to people. The community gets together and tries to clean up our town by spending a day or two picking up trash that has blown into our town. Please care about one another here, they might not know your name but if you have an issue and it's clear you need help everyone seems to pitch in one way or another to help.
Read 50 Reviews

• grade B minus

• grade C

• 20,851 Population

Tehachapi

• Town in California
• Rating 3.37 out of 5  59 reviews

Current Resident: Small town, great atmosphere to raise a family. Good and bad such as any place to live, beats the bigger cities and their problems.
Read 59 Reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• 12,680 Population

Bakersfield

• City in California
• Rating 3.49 out of 5  1,165 reviews

Current Resident: Welcome to the conservative bible belt of California! This may be starting to change, but as of today this is by far the most conservative, most evangelical Christian centric city I've ever been to in California, let alone lived in. Whether that's good, bad, or neutral is up to you so its not affecting my rating.

The city is generally quiet and people friendly if a bit to themselves, living costs are some of the best I've found in all of California, not a lot of to do if your into the night life (I'm not), but as the city is growing I expect that to change. My one real knocks, and why I can't give it 5 stars, is we frequently have the worst air quality in the US, so an air purifier for your home is mandatory, and the summers can get brutally hot (110F).

In closing, some describe Bakersfield as 2 hours from wherever you actually want to be, but while its nice that we're centralized, if you like a quiet peaceful life as I do, I think Bakersfield is a place you'd want to be too.
Read 1,165 Reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• 377,917 Population

Golden Hills

• Town in California
• Rating 4.17 out of 5  23 reviews

Current Resident: I moved into the Golden Hills/South Park area of downtown San Diego in August of 2016. From day one I have felt safe walking the sidewalks to and from the local markets, the post office and restaurants all the while admiring the old, eclectic homes with wrap around porches. It is a quite convenient place to live, with access to the 5 and 94 within a 2 minute drive from my apartment and bike lanes for local errands. Golden Hills has a dog park and is flush with dog-friendly vendors who don't mind if your pet joins you as you patronize the various storefronts. There are even 3 gyms within less than a mile! This place is a diamond in the rough and my only complaint would be the amount of potholes near the entrances to the freeway ramps. Other than that, Golden Hills is a hidden gem!
Read 23 Reviews

• grade C+

• grade B minus

• 9,351 Population

California City

• Town in California
• Rating 3.09 out of 5  58 reviews

Niche User: It's great when it's quiet but just like these other posters say, the barking dogs and dirt bikers that make their noise at all hours make it very annoying at times. I have to use ear plugs a to drown it out. Other than that, I do not see any racism. This is a good place for people who want to retreat from society and get away from it all. If you are into socializing and meeting new people, it may not be for you. It is not a good place to raise children. There is very little to do here and so I have created my own little world and am content. People mind their own business. It's true that there is no good shopping. We have to travel to Mojave or the A.V. if we want to buy anything good. There is no supermarket, no clinic, no hospital, no clothing stores. If you don't have a car, you walk because there isn't a bus system here. The streets are unpaved, also. It is a survivalist's dream place and that is what I am so I have no complaints. I love it here.
Read 58 Reviews

• grade C+

• grade C minus

• 13,826 Population

Shafter

• Town in California
• Rating 3.83 out of 5  35 reviews

Current Resident: Very calm town. If you love community this is perfect for you. In the past year our city has improved with its state of the art distribution center. We are headed for a great future with our huge rec center in the making, downtown under construction, and a new part of Shafter being built. It is something very unique!
Read 35 Reviews

• grade C

• grade C+

• 19,447 Population

Lake Isabella

• Town in California
• Rating 3.17 out of 5  12 reviews

Current Resident: It's extremely beautiful, the Kern river, the lake, mountains, the Sequoia National Park. There is the Trail of 100 Giants. The Alta Sierra ski resort, many hiking trails and hot springs. Its a small town so everyone knows everyone. Nice and family oriented. Something we could use on our area is a homeless shelter it gets very cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The Kern River Valley is a rural community. I grew up in this area and I love it.
Read 12 Reviews

• grade C

• grade C minus

• 3,495 Population

Taft Heights

• Town in California
• Rating 2.67 out of 5  6 reviews

Niche User: I love this town that I was born and raised in. But on another scale I wish Taft was bigger so we had more to do in the small town. We are finally getting a new hotel, "Best Western" and soon to come more places to eat. Taft is not far for others places to go to, like the beach which is 1 1/2 to 2 hours away, and there's the mountains which is less or at the most about an hour away (depending on which way u go). Sometimes I wish Taft could get more snow in the winter! Love the winter and holiday time, especially being with family and friends. So other than that, Taft is a good places to raise families and meet new people and make new friends.
Read 6 Reviews

• grade C

• grade B minus

• 1,998 Population

Delano

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 3.6 out of 5  89 reviews

Current Resident: Small suburb of the Central Valley. Small for working town filled with lots of love and culture! People are very friendly, there’s a lot of small neighborhoods and there has been gentrification in the area as well, promoting a lot of new businesses and college housing for Cal State Bakersfield.
Read 89 Reviews

• grade C

• grade B

• 52,886 Population

Mojave

• Town in California
• Rating 2.33 out of 5  9 reviews

• grade C minus

• grade C minus

• 3,855 Population

Ford City

• Town in California

• grade C minus

• grade B minus

• 4,753 Population

Frazier Park

• Town in California
• Rating 4 out of 5  5 reviews

Current Resident: Great place to bring up a family or retire at. Cute town with homes in the $300,000 instead of $650,000+ with nice people living here and a low crime rate. I have lived here for 11 years and never had any problems. 45 min away from Valencia or Bakersfield. About an hr from Ventura.Great hiking areas .This is our little slice of heaven.
Read 5 Reviews

• grade C minus

• grade B minus

• 2,587 Population

Oildale

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 2.57 out of 5  35 reviews

Current Resident: I have lived in Oildale my entire life 53 years and I've always felt safe and I never had to deal with theft until recently in The Last 5 Years the homeless situation has went crazy now they wander around at night breaking into cars stealing stuff off your porch sleeping everywhere and leaving trash worst thing is is most of the homeless came from other towns they sent them here since we had programs that could help
Read 35 Reviews

• grade C minus

• grade C

• 34,763 Population

Wasco

• Town in California
• Rating 3.53 out of 5  60 reviews

Current Resident: Wasco is a nice, growing town. There are many fast food places on one of the main streets making it easy to find somewhere to eat. The town can improve by having the streets repaired. The houses there are nice and modern looking. There is plenty of land available to build a home or a business. The town is expanding in all directions due to housing. High way 46 passes right through the middle of town (east to west), which is one of the ways to get to the coast. Highway 43 passes (north to south) through Wasco and this highway goes through many towns along the way.
Read 60 Reviews

• grade C minus

• grade C

• 27,193 Population

South Taft

• Town in California

• grade C minus

• grade B minus

• 1,768 Population

Greenfield

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 3.55 out of 5  20 reviews

Current Resident: It is a very small town. Everyone knows everyone. There is only one high school with is Greenfield High School and one middle school which is Vista Verde.
Read 20 Reviews

• grade C minus

• grade B minus

• 3,899 Population

Lamont

• Suburb of Bakersfield, CA
• Rating 3.24 out of 5  17 reviews

Current Resident: Very nice people, the community helps each other all the time. The public schools have great teachers and are very diverse. Community groups help those in need all the time, especially in times of need with piles of food and other resources. Few places to hang out in. At night, it is not necessarily the safest place.
Read 17 Reviews

• grade C minus

• grade C

• 14,799 Population

Bodfish

• Town in California
• Rating 2 out of 5  2 reviews

• grade D+

• grade C minus

• 2,030 Population

Arvin

• Town in California
• Rating 3.58 out of 5  26 reviews

Current Resident: My community is a very tight knit community. Everyone for the most part is friendly and respect each other. It is a small town, so it is a great place for people who like being in small populated areas.
Read 26 Reviews

• grade D

• grade C

• 21,249 Population

McFarland

• Town in California
• Rating 3.5 out of 5  28 reviews

Former Resident: I like that the McFarland community is very united and helpful to every member. When someone is in need, they give them a hand. When injustice is made, they protest to help make justice. One thing I would change is McFarland's police department. They have very few police officers, so the town never feels very safe.
Read 28 Reviews

• grade D

• grade C minus

• 14,823 Population