Kern County vs San Mateo County

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

Kern County and San Mateo 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 745,100 in San Mateo County). San Mateo County has the higher median household income ($156,000 vs $67,660 in Kern County). San Mateo County has the higher median home value ($1,494,500 vs $310,600 in Kern County).

Population, income & housing

	Kern County	San Mateo County
Population	910,433	745,100
Median age	32.4 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$67,660	$156,000
Median home value	$310,600	$1,494,500
Median gross rent	$1,220	$2,893
Housing units	304,481	285,558
Homeownership rate	59.8%	59.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.6%	53.1%
Unemployment rate	8.4%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kern County	San Mateo County
Population	887,641 → 910,433 (+2.6%)	767,423 → 745,100 (-2.9%)
Median household income	$53,350 → $67,660 (+26.8%)	$122,641 → $156,000 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$213,900 → $310,600 (+45.2%)	$1,089,400 → $1,494,500 (+37.2%)
Median gross rent	$978 → $1,220 (+24.7%)	$2,316 → $2,893 (+24.9%)

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 Mateo County

Population

767,423745,100

Median household income

$122,641$156,000

Median home value

$1,089,400$1,494,500

Median gross rent

$2,316$2,893

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kern County	San Mateo County
Under 5	7.2%	5.2%
5 to 17	21.6%	14.7%
18 to 24	9.8%	7.2%
25 to 34	15.2%	14.4%
35 to 44	13.3%	14.6%
45 to 54	11.0%	13.6%
55 to 64	10.4%	13.1%
65 to 74	7.2%	9.8%
75 and over	4.4%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kern County	San Mateo County
White (non-Hispanic)	30.7%	35.8%
Black or African American	4.8%	2.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.1%
Asian	4.9%	30.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	1.1%
Some other race	0.5%	0.8%
Two or more races	3.0%	4.8%
Hispanic or Latino	55.7%	24.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kern County	San Mateo County
No high school diploma	22.9%	9.7%
High school graduate	27.7%	14.8%
Some college or associate's	30.9%	22.4%
Bachelor's degree	12.3%	29.2%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	23.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kern County	San Mateo County
Drove alone	79.2%	57.6%
Carpooled	11.5%	8.8%
Public transit	0.5%	6.4%
Walked	1.0%	2.3%
Bicycle	0.1%	1.2%
Worked from home	6.6%	21.9%
Other means	1.1%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kern County	San Mateo County
1-unit, detached	72.1%	55.3%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	8.7%
2 to 4 units	7.9%	6.5%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	11.9%
20 or more units	4.5%	16.4%
Mobile home & other	7.7%	1.2%

Poverty & households

	Kern County	San Mateo County
Poverty rate	19.0%	6.5%
Average household size	3.15	2.77
Mean commute (minutes)	24	27
Median year structure built	1984	1966