Kern County vs San Joaquin County

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

Kern County and San Joaquin 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 787,416 in San Joaquin County). San Joaquin County has the higher median household income ($88,531 vs $67,660 in Kern County). San Joaquin County has the higher median home value ($494,500 vs $310,600 in Kern County).

Population, income & housing

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
Population	910,433	787,416
Median age	32.4 yrs	35.2 yrs
Median household income	$67,660	$88,531
Median home value	$310,600	$494,500
Median gross rent	$1,220	$1,633
Housing units	304,481	256,826
Homeownership rate	59.8%	61.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.6%	21.6%
Unemployment rate	8.4%	7.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
Population	887,641 → 910,433 (+2.6%)	742,603 → 787,416 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$53,350 → $67,660 (+26.8%)	$64,432 → $88,531 (+37.4%)
Median home value	$213,900 → $310,600 (+45.2%)	$342,100 → $494,500 (+44.5%)
Median gross rent	$978 → $1,220 (+24.7%)	$1,208 → $1,633 (+35.2%)

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 Joaquin County

Population

742,603787,416

Median household income

$64,432$88,531

Median home value

$342,100$494,500

Median gross rent

$1,208$1,633

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
Under 5	7.2%	6.6%
5 to 17	21.6%	19.9%
18 to 24	9.8%	9.4%
25 to 34	15.2%	13.8%
35 to 44	13.3%	13.8%
45 to 54	11.0%	12.0%
55 to 64	10.4%	11.2%
65 to 74	7.2%	8.0%
75 and over	4.4%	5.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
White (non-Hispanic)	30.7%	27.9%
Black or African American	4.8%	6.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.3%
Asian	4.9%	17.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.6%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.0%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	55.7%	42.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
No high school diploma	22.9%	19.6%
High school graduate	27.7%	27.8%
Some college or associate's	30.9%	31.1%
Bachelor's degree	12.3%	14.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	7.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
Drove alone	79.2%	74.8%
Carpooled	11.5%	12.4%
Public transit	0.5%	1.1%
Walked	1.0%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.3%
Worked from home	6.6%	9.3%
Other means	1.1%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
1-unit, detached	72.1%	74.7%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	5.0%
2 to 4 units	7.9%	5.1%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	5.7%
20 or more units	4.5%	6.3%
Mobile home & other	7.7%	3.2%

Poverty & households

	Kern County	San Joaquin County
Poverty rate	19.0%	12.6%
Average household size	3.15	3.19
Mean commute (minutes)	24	35
Median year structure built	1984	1983