Kern County vs San Francisco County

A side-by-side comparison of Kern County and San Francisco County: population, income, housing, and more.

Kern County and San Francisco County are counties in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Kern County has the higher population (910,433 vs 836,321 in San Francisco County). San Francisco County has the higher median household income ($141,446 vs $67,660 in Kern County). San Francisco County has the higher median home value ($1,380,500 vs $310,600 in Kern County).

Population, income & housing

	Kern County	San Francisco County
Population	910,433	836,321
Median age	32.4 yrs	39.7 yrs
Median household income	$67,660	$141,446
Median home value	$310,600	$1,380,500
Median gross rent	$1,220	$2,419
Housing units	304,481	411,542
Homeownership rate	59.8%	38.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.6%	60.1%
Unemployment rate	8.4%	5.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kern County	San Francisco County
Population	887,641 → 910,433 (+2.6%)	874,961 → 836,321 (-4.4%)
Median household income	$53,350 → $67,660 (+26.8%)	$112,449 → $141,446 (+25.8%)
Median home value	$213,900 → $310,600 (+45.2%)	$1,097,800 → $1,380,500 (+25.8%)
Median gross rent	$978 → $1,220 (+24.7%)	$1,895 → $2,419 (+27.7%)

Kern County

Population

887,641910,433

Median household income

$53,350$67,660

Median home value

$213,900$310,600

Median gross rent

$978$1,220

San Francisco County

Population

874,961836,321

Median household income

$112,449$141,446

Median home value

$1,097,800$1,380,500

Median gross rent

$1,895$2,419

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kern County	San Francisco County
Under 5	7.2%	4.2%
5 to 17	21.6%	9.5%
18 to 24	9.8%	6.3%
25 to 34	15.2%	21.3%
35 to 44	13.3%	16.3%
45 to 54	11.0%	13.2%
55 to 64	10.4%	12.0%
65 to 74	7.2%	9.8%
75 and over	4.4%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kern County	San Francisco County
White (non-Hispanic)	30.7%	37.5%
Black or African American	4.8%	4.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.2%
Asian	4.9%	34.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.3%
Some other race	0.5%	0.8%
Two or more races	3.0%	5.8%
Hispanic or Latino	55.7%	15.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kern County	San Francisco County
No high school diploma	22.9%	11.2%
High school graduate	27.7%	11.3%
Some college or associate's	30.9%	17.4%
Bachelor's degree	12.3%	35.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	25.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kern County	San Francisco County
Drove alone	79.2%	28.6%
Carpooled	11.5%	6.0%
Public transit	0.5%	21.4%
Walked	1.0%	10.0%
Bicycle	0.1%	3.3%
Worked from home	6.6%	27.5%
Other means	1.1%	3.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kern County	San Francisco County
1-unit, detached	72.1%	18.2%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	12.3%
2 to 4 units	7.9%	20.2%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	18.5%
20 or more units	4.5%	30.6%
Mobile home & other	7.7%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Kern County	San Francisco County
Poverty rate	19.0%	10.6%
Average household size	3.15	2.24
Mean commute (minutes)	24	31
Median year structure built	1984	1945