Kern County, California

Kern County population, land area and income

Kern County had 922,529 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 8,134.7 square miles of land. It ranks 11th of 58 in California by population and 3rd by land area. That works out to 113.4 people per square mile, near the US average of 96.3, and above the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in California has 187,274 residents, so Kern County is 4.9 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $68,436 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Kern County's population changed since 2020

Kern County gained 16,405 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 1.8%. That ranks 12th of 58 in California for growth. The median California county changed by -0.6%, and the state as a whole by -0.2%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Kern County recorded 49,950 births and 33,112 deaths, a natural change of +16,838. Net international migration added +11,404 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to -14,799. The largest single component was natural change, which added 16,838 people.

Where Kern County is

The Census internal point of Kern County is at 35.346600, -118.729500. It sits in UTM zone 11N. The map shades California's 58 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Kern County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Kern County

11 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Kern County, 615,516 people together, or 67% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Kern County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Bakersfield with 417,468.

Counties bordering Kern County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 8 neighbors for Kern County. The most populous is Los Angeles County, CA, with 9,757,179 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Los Angeles County

  9,757,179 people

  84 mi SSE

• San Bernardino County

  2,214,281 people

  148 mi ESE

• Ventura County

  835,427 people

  72 mi SSW

• Tulare County

  483,546 people

  61 mi N

• Santa Barbara County

  444,500 people

  93 mi SW

• San Luis Obispo County

  281,843 people

  97 mi W

• Kings County

  154,913 people

  79 mi NW

• Inyo County

  18,485 people

  112 mi NE

Distance to Sacramento and the nearest big city

Sacramento is 270.4 miles NNW of Kern County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Bakersfield, CA (population 417,468), 17.4 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Arvin, CA (population 19,661), 12.0 miles away.

Kern County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Kern County is 06029: state code 06 for California plus county code 029. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $68,436.