Benton ParkCA
The town has 5,707 residents and lies in California.
Is Benton Park a good place to live?
A town with more to fix than most. Its weakest subject is health (D−): residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Benton Park grades D− overall and ranks 798th of 841 in California. That leaves it behind almost every U.S. town. It lags on cost of living as well — the typical home is worth about $241K, 3.4 years of the Bakersfield metro’s $70K median household income. Walkability is its strong suit: it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Only 9 of California’s 1,064 towns score lower on the outdoors. 37% of residents live below the poverty line in the town, where California’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US.
What makes Benton Park stand out
Where Benton Park beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
99% of working residents leave Benton Park for work
Where Benton Park’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Benton Park grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Benton Park is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 5%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Benton Park: who provides what
Benton Park 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Benton Park.
Benton Park has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Bakersfield and beyond, but it has poverty well above the California rate.
Benton Park’s grade for health is a D−
Benton Park: just over two in five adults have obesity. CDC measures, 32 in all: Benton Park beats California on 1 and trails on 21. Two figures for adults here: 22% report frequent mental distress, 19% report frequent physical distress.
| Benton Park | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 22% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Benton Park | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.1% | 6.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 16.9% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Benton Park’s schools trail 77% of California districts
The public schools here belong to the Bakersfield City school district. Its one school is below. Enrollment at Benton Park’s public school: 660 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evergreen ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 660 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Compared with most of California and the rest of the country, more of Benton Park’s residents live below the poverty line
Benton Park has 281 jobs for its 1,790 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The middle household income for Benton Park comes to $50,000. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 1% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Bakersfield (47%), Los Angeles (4%) and Oildale (2%). Half of commuters travel less than 6 miles.
| Benton Park | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 37% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.7% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
High risk in Benton Park, with earthquakes at the top
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in just over two thirds of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Benton Park, 53% come from earthquakes and 30% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mild winters and hot summers: that is Benton Park’s year
The Bakersfield Ap weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 112 days a year reach 90°, more than in 97% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 99.1°, hotter than in 99% of U.S. towns; January nights average 40.1°.
The July high locally is 99°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Benton Park | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 99°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 40°F | 41°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Benton Park sell for about $330K
For Benton Park, the rent at the middle of the market is $1,243 a month. The share of households in Benton Park who live in a home they own: 61%.
| Benton Park | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,243 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 61% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Dignity Health Arena and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Benton Park. Close and well known come first.
2 mi Stadium & arenaDignity Health Arena
3 mi MuseumKern County Museum85K visitors a year
34 mi MuseumFort Tejon
27 mi National MonumentCésar E. Chávez National Monument31K visitors a year10 mi Zoo & aquariumCalifornia Living Museum
2 mi MuseumBakersfield Museum of ArtPhoto credits
Dignity Health Arena: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0 · Kern County Museum: (WT-de) Mistoffeles, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Tejon: Yellowute at English Wikipedia, Public domain · César E. Chávez National Monument: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0 · Bakersfield Museum of Art: Skyman9999. Skyman9999, CC0
Everything we know about Benton Park
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Benton Park
About 7 of every 100 Benton Park residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
About Benton Park
Place in California, United States
Benton Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, Benton Park had a population of 5,333. Although it is designated by the census as its own place, it is functionally a neighborhood of Bakersfield. The boundaries of the neighborhood of Benton Park extend further than the boundaries of the CDP.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Benton Park’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Benton Park.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton Park | #798 | D− | C− | — | C− | D− |
| Old Stine | #816 | D− | C− | — | C− | D |
Benton Park and Old Stine report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Benton Park with a neighbor →
Questions about Benton Park
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Benton Park, CA a good place to live?
It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Benton Park, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $241,000, 68% 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 C−.