Bakersfield is one of the most attractive larger cities for people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Bakersfield is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.
Of the large cities in America, Bakersfield is one of the most car-oriented. This is reflected in the urban landscape, which features highways, wide streets, parking lots, and shopping centers of all sizes. It is also reflected in the statistics: 81.14% of people in Bakersfield drive to work in their own car everyday, most often alone. So, if you're going to live in Bakersfield, you'll need to learn to love driving. Alternative forms of transportation aren't very widely used or supported.
The population of Bakersfield overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Bakersfield, 22.94% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Bakersfield in 2018 was $28,837, which is lower middle income relative to California, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $115,348 for a family of four. However, Bakersfield contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Bakersfield is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Bakersfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Bakersfield, accounting for 51.95% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Bakersfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Bakersfield include German, English, Irish, Italian, and European.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Bakersfield's cultural character, accounting for 19.02% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in Bakersfield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
