Bakersfield vs. Pasadena

(Photo Credit)

I was born and raised in Pasadena, CA.  I still have many friends and family that live in Pasadena or surrounding cities.  When we moved to Bakersfield (October 2007) many people said, "Bakersfield! Why Bakersfield?"  There were many reasons to move to Bakersfield, one big one being we were living in Victorville (Victimville, Victorhell, Hicktorville, etc).

So I thought I would share some info for those of you who haven't been to Bakersfield in a while.  To give you a little perspective, I'm comparing the stats versus Pasadena.

(Bakersfield/Pasadena: click on link for stats/photos/graphs)
Population: 321,078 to 143,080 (as of July 2008)

Median Age: 30.1 to 34.5

Estimated median household income in 2007: $51,664 to $66,465


Estimated median house/condo value in 2007: $300,500 to $705,100


Top 5 Races: White (51.1%), Hispanic (32.5%), Other (18.7%), Black (9.2%), Two+ Races (4.4%)
                     White (39.1%), Hispanic (33.4%), Other (16.0%), Black (14.4%), Two+ Races (5.4%)

2008 Cost of Living Index:  93.1 to 162.8 (US average is 100)


Foreign Born Residences:  13.6% to 32.3%

Registered Sex Offenders: 1035 to 115

Major Crimes: (per 100,000 for 2007)
Murder: 4.7/7.6
Rape:  12.9/22.7
Robberies: 197.3/208.2
Arson: 28.5/15.8
Burglaries: 1109.7/566.8

2004 Presidential Election Results: (Kern County/LA County)

Kern County

(LA County)