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Towns / California

California City, California

California City is a small town of about 13,300 people in Kern County, California. It has lost about 12% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Los Angeles, is about 84 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
13,300
down 12% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$278,000
Kern County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$60,113
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Bakersfield area
100.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
33 miles
Tehachapi, CA
To Los Angeles
84 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 0.9% above the U.S. average in the Bakersfield-Delano metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood68 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 5.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 14 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byAdventist Health Tehachapi Valley in Tehachapi, about 33 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLos Angeles is about 84 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means California City meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Worth a closer look

California City has lost about 12% of its people since 2020. A shrinking town can mean bargains, but visit Main Street on a weekday and ask what's closed lately.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$278,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Kern County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,300 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,113U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
55%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,027 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
6%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100.9U.S. average = 100 (the Bakersfield-Delano metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Bakersfield-Delano metro area, not California City alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
13,3002020: 15,081
Median age
33.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
13%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
11%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (18%); government (16%); retail (15%)
Unemployment rate
19%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
43 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
23%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, Tehachapi, CA, about 33 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Antelope Valley Hospital, Lancaster, CA, about 36 miles away. Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in California City, run by Mojave Unified.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
77%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
33°F
July average high
97°F
Days 90°F or hotter
110 a year
Nights at or below freezing
40 a year
Rain and melted snow
5.8 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
2,497 feet

Weather station: Mojave (18 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, Lancaster, Los Angeles.

Kern County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • César E. Chávez National Monument39 miles

Read about California City's history on Wikipedia.

Know California City?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • North Edwards, CA (unincorporated)903 people, 8 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.