Best places to live in the Bakersfield metro area

Written by:
July 8, 2025
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Best places to live in the Bakersfield metro area

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in the Bakersfield metro area using data from the Niche. Niche uses 15 weighted factors for its rankings. A majority of the score is based on cost of living, higher education rate, housing, public schools, diversity, and crime. You can read more about Niche's methodology here.

1 / 15
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#15. Richgrove

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: B-
- Population: 2,136

2 / 15
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#14. Ford City

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: C
- Population: 4,310

3 / 15
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#13. Greenfield

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: C+
- Population: 4,399

4 / 15
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#12. Oildale

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: C
- Population: 34,971

5 / 15
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#11. Wasco

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: C+
- Population: 26,222

6 / 15
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#10. South Taft

- Niche grade: C-
- Public school grade: C
- Population: 2,534

7 / 15
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#9. Taft Heights

- Niche grade: C
- Public school grade: C+
- Population: 1,588

8 / 15
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#8. Delano

- Niche grade: C
- Public school grade: B+
- Population: 50,835

9 / 15
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#7. Shafter

- Niche grade: C
- Public school grade: C
- Population: 20,618

10 / 15
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#6. Tehachapi

- Niche grade: C
- Public school grade: B-
- Population: 12,366

11 / 15
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#5. Bakersfield

- Niche grade: C+
- Public school grade: B-
- Population: 408,366

12 / 15
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#4. Taft

- Niche grade: C+
- Public school grade: C+
- Population: 7,228

13 / 15
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#3. Greenacres

- Niche grade: B-
- Public school grade: A-
- Population: 4,566

14 / 15
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#2. Golden Hills

- Niche grade: B-
- Public school grade: B-
- Population: 10,445

15 / 15
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#1. Rosedale

- Niche grade: B
- Public school grade: B+
- Population: 19,325

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