County profile
Kern County, CA
United States · GDP 2024
#94 of 3,127 US counties by GDP55th-percentile growthmore diversified than 94% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$63.1B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+4.8%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
219,016
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
14,352
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$57.7k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
927,068
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
8.8%
Median HH income
$70.2k±$1.3k
Bachelor's degree+
18.8%±0.5%
Poverty rate
19.1%±0.8%
Business applications
8,751 · 2025
Retail establishments
2,007
21.7/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
1Tejon Ranch Co.Industrials$49.6M59C2Trio Petroleum Corp.Energy$398.7k27D3Mission BancorpFinancial Services———4Spectrum Oil CorpEnergy———HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Health care26%
Retail trade22%
Food & accommodation19%
Transportation14%
Manufacturing10%
Construction10%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
927,068
residents · 2025 · +2.3% since 2020
Income per capita $50.6k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration−14,010
International migration+12,924
Natural change+21,702
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$46.8B2019
$45.8B2020
$53.1B2021
$57.9B2022
$60.2B2023
$63.1B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$338.3k±$2.9k
Median gross rent
$1.3k/mo±$21/mo
Vacancy rate
7.2%±0.4%
Affordability
5.9× wages
Residential permits
$699.4M
3,159 units · 3.4/1k pop
FEMA risk score
98.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.5k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Wildfire 100Heat wave 99Earthquake 99
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
5452016
5672017
5962018
6242019
6582020
7582021
8882022
9302023
9742024
9932025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 38% since 20212,2932021
2,6882022
2,4512023
3,2442024
3,1592025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
39.3 km
I-5
Nearest freight rail
2.0 km
UP
Nearest port
128.6 km
CASITAS PIER
Nearest commercial airport
31.5 km
MEADOWS FLD
Filing activity
SEC EDGAR3 filings from 1 company here in the last 90 days.
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$57.7k
avg. annual pay · +19% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Kern?
Kern's economy produced $63.1B in 2024, growing 4.8% year over year — about the middle of the pack among US counties. Its largest employment sector is health care.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.