Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some subjects shine; others lag. Bear Valley Springs’s overall grade is C−, better than just over a fifth of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 489th of 841 in California. Its weakest is cost of living (D): the typical home is worth about $496K, 7.1 years of the Bakersfield metro’s $70K median household income. It lags on walkability as well. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Health is its strong suit — residents are healthier than 84% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Bear Valley Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Where Bear Valley Springs beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 1,593 in 1990, 5,592 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 3 maps from 1943 on.
Explore the history →Where Bear Valley Springs’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Ordered by what stands out in Bear Valley Springs.
Bear Valley Springs sends most of its workers to Bakersfield and beyond, owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of California.
FEMA puts 53% of Bear Valley Springs’s expected hazard losses down to wildfires, and 37% to inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 5,682 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bear Valley Springs’s, it is healthier than 64%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Bear Valley Springs, 9.2% smoke cigarettes. Bear Valley Springs: 30% of adults feel lonely, against 36% in California’s towns and 33% across U.S. towns. Against the California average, Bear Valley Springs comes out ahead on 15 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 6. 31% of adults in Bear Valley Springs sleep under 7 hours; 79% had a checkup this year.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 79% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Bear Valley Springs | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 17.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.7% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.2% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Nearly a third of Bear Valley Springs residents are 65 or older. Bear Valley Springs’ age of the median resident is 53.1 years, where California’s towns sit at 39 years and U.S. towns at 40.5 years. The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 40%, against 37% across California.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 32% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 53.1 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 29% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Bear Valley Springs | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.4% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.9% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.3% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.6% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.1% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14.6% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.3% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.7% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.7% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.9% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.1% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Bear Valley Springs has 390 jobs for its 1,618 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 41.8 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
The top destinations are Bakersfield (16%), Tehachapi (14%) and Lancaster (5%). Most people who work leave Bear Valley Springs to do it: just 7% work in town. Since 2013, Bear Valley Springs has added 148 jobs, to 390 in 2023. The mean commuting time for Bear Valley Springs comes to 42 minutes.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 42 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $120,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 34.7°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 82% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 88°.
Bear Valley Springs’ January low stands at 35°F.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 35°F | 41°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Across 2 parks and preserves: 17 miles of trail. The biggest park or preserve is Bear Valley Park, at 26 acres. In Bear Valley Springs, the trail density is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bear Valley Park | — | 26 |
| 2. Beaubien Athletic Field | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes sold in Bear Valley Springs spent a median 53 days on the market. The median sale price was $477,000 in September 2026. Bear Valley Springs’ going rate for rent comes in at $1,439 a month.
| Bear Valley Springs | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 94% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,439 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Bear Valley Springs is unincorporated, so Kern County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
None within 15 miles of Bear Valley Springs; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Bear Valley Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Place in California, United States
Bear Valley Springs is a guarded-gate community in Kern County, California, United States. The unincorporated community is in the Tehachapi Mountains and is part of the greater Tehachapi area. The elevation ranges from 4,121 feet (1,256 m) to 6,934 feet (2,113 m) (Bear Mountain). The population fluctuates between a low during the winter months when snow is common, to a high in the summer months when its elevation keeps it much cooler than surrounding areas and major cities. The population was 5,592 at the 2020 census, up from 5,172 at the 2010 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Bear Valley Springs as a census-designated place (CDP). The census defi…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Bear Valley Springs.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Valley Springs | #489 | C− | D | — | B− | A− |
| Keene | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tehachapi | #782 | D− | D | C− | B− | C+ |
Bear Valley Springs reports no FBI crime data of its own. Keene isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bear Valley Springs with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bear Valley Springs grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #489 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $496,000, 35% below the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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