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Welcome to Kern County ...

Time Zone: Kern County lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time.

The community of Bakersfield is the Seat for Kern County.

Kern County was founded in 1866. Kern was created by taking area from Los Angeles and Tulare Counties.

From the Census Estimates for 2019, <1> Kern had a population of 900,202 people. This is an increase of 7.04% since the last Census (which gave a population of 840,996 people in 2010).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Kern represented 2.26% of the total population of California.

Below are some of the communities located in Kern County:

  • Arvin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arvin
    • Arvin is located in Kern County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,757 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arvin <2>
  • Bakersfield
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • California City
    (41 miles [66 km] to the east)
  • Delano
    (45 miles [72.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delano
    • Delano is located in Kern County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,041 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delano <2>
  • Maricopa
    (43 miles [69.2 km] to the west)
  • McFarland
    (40 miles [64.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Ridgecrest
    (61 miles [98.2 km] to the east)
  • Shafter
    (36 miles [57.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafter
    • Shafter is located in Kern County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,739 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shafter <2>
  • Taft
    (45 miles [72.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
    • Taft is located in Kern County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,488 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taft <2>
  • Tehachapi
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Wasco
    (42 miles [67.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasco
    • Wasco is located in Kern County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,734 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wasco <2>

Websites of Interest ...

Footnotes ...

<1>On a yearly basis, the US Census Bureau creates an estimate of the county's population. Keep in mind that this is an estimate and not an actual count. The last physical count was the 2010 Census and the next count will be for the 2020 Census.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
 

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This page was last modified/updated: 12 Jul 2025