Golden HillsCA
The town has 9,891 residents and lies in California.
Is Golden Hills a good place to live?
A tough set of grades. Where it falls short is cost of living (D) — the typical home is worth about $410K, 5.8 years of the Bakersfield metro’s $70K median household income. It also trails on hazard risk — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Its best grade is for health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 60% of the country. Overall, that makes a D, good for 688th of 841 in California. That leaves it better than 6% of U.S. towns. Golden Hills has 1 place on the National Register. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 78% of U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
Golden Hills has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
8,656 counted in 2010 and 9,578 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Golden Hills grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Golden Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Golden Hills: who provides what
Golden Hills 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 Golden Hills.
Golden Hills sends most of its workers to Tehachapi 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.
Very high risk in Golden Hills, with wildfire at the top
Expected losses in Golden Hills break down as 46% from wildfires and 28% from inland flooding. Flood insurance has paid one claim locally since 1998.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Golden Hills’ schools rank behind 52% of California districts
The Tehachapi Unified school district runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. 663 students attend Golden Hills’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Hills ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 663 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
2.4% of the land in Golden Hills is protected from building
Trails total 10 miles in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Meadowbrook Park, at 36 acres.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Meadowbrook Park | — | 36 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Golden Hills sends most of its workers out of town
Golden Hills has 859 jobs for its 3,214 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 2,140 in 2013 to 859.
Golden Hills’ average commute is 33 minutes, above both the California town median (28 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Just 7% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Golden Hills dropped by 1,281, to 859. In Golden Hills, 18% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $96,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 11% | 14% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A typical January night in Golden Hills is 33°F, against 41°F in California’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns
January nights average 32.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 86% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 89.8°.
Golden Hills’ peak summer temperature is 90°F, against 89°F in California’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. Expect mild winters and warm summers locally, with very little rain.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 33°F | 41°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 89°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer middle-aged adults than California overall
Adults 35 to 64 are nearly a third of residents (39% statewide); people 65 and older are 21% of residents (16% statewide). College graduates make up 30% of adults 25 and older, against 37% across California.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 37.3 years | 39.1 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Golden Hills | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.3% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.2% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.3% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.7% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.4% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.6% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Golden Hills earns a B for health
Against the 9,208 U.S. towns with household incomes like Golden Hills’s, it is less healthy than 55%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Golden Hills, 32% have obesity. The town beats the California average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 74% of adults in the town had a checkup this year; 19% report frequent mental distress.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Golden Hills | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.6% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.7% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Golden Hills sell for about $442K
Golden Hills’ rent at the middle of the market is $1,377 a month. For households locally, the share who are owner-occupiers is 82%. On the market in the town: a median 40 days to sell.
| Golden Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,377 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Golden Hills
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Golden Hills; the nearest are
About 8 of every 100 Golden Hills residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
93% of working residents leave Golden Hills for work
Where Golden Hills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Golden Hills
Census-designated place in California, United States
Golden Hills is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Tehachapi Mountains, in Kern County, California, United States. The population was 9,578 at the 2020 census, up from 8,656 at the 2010 census. Golden Hills adjoins the city of Tehachapi on the west.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 12 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,917 ft
- Area code
- 661
Golden Hills’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Golden Hills.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Hills | #688 | D | D | — | B− | B |
| Tehachapi | #782 | D− | D | C− | B− | C+ |
Golden Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Golden Hills with a neighbor →
Questions about Golden Hills
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Golden Hills, CA a good place to live?
Golden Hills grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #688 of 841 in California. It grades B for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Golden Hills, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $410,000, 46% 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.