Wofford HeightsCA
A town of 2,656, settled in 1953.
Is Wofford Heights a good place to live?
Wofford Heights grades D overall, 581st among California's 841 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $39K, and 21% of residents live below the poverty line. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 86% of the country. What it does well: it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns. 30% of residents are 65 or older in Wofford Heights, above both the California town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). On cost of living, just 27 of California’s 1,058 towns do better. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top.
98% of working residents leave Wofford Heights for work
Where Wofford Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Wofford Heights grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Wofford Heights is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Wofford Heights: who provides what
Wofford Heights 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 Wofford Heights.
Wofford Heights trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of California.
Wofford Heights stands out in California and nationally, with the median rent lower than most
Homes are within reach (about $224K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 44 miles. The typical value, about $224K, is 8% below its July 2022 peak.
Wofford Heights’ median rent is $911 a month. The typical Wofford Heights home is worth about $224,000, down 2.7% in a year, 71% below the California typical home. 76% of households own their home in Wofford Heights.
| Wofford Heights | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $911 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 64% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Wofford Heights faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by wildfire
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More of Wofford Heights’ adults report frequent physical distress than in the typical California or U.S. town
Against the 2,029 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wofford Heights’s, it is healthier than 63%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of Wofford Heights adults report frequent physical distress. Wofford Heights beats the California average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 48% of Wofford Heights adults have high blood pressure.
| Wofford Heights | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 31% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Wofford Heights | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8% | 10.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.5% | 15.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 13.2% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Wofford Heights
Wofford Heights has 97 jobs for its 487 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Wofford Heights for work: only 2% work in town. The average trip to work in Wofford Heights is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Wofford Heights fell to 97 in 2023, 39 fewer than in 2013.
| Wofford Heights | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $39,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Wofford Heights has set aside 9.2% of its land for conservation
4.8 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Wofford Heights | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wofford Heights Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Wofford Heights has four seasons and hot summers
January nights average 35.2°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 80% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 92.9°.
Wofford Heights has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain.
| Wofford Heights | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 93°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 41°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Wofford Heights
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Wofford Heights; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Wofford Heights residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About Wofford Heights
Census-designated place in California, United States
Wofford Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Kern County, California, United States. Wofford Heights is located in the west Kern River Valley, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-southwest of Kernville, at an elevation of 2,684 feet (818 m). The population was 2,213 at the 2020 census, up from 2,200 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,684 ft
- ZIP code
- 93285
Wofford Heights’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Wofford Heights.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wofford Heights | #581 | D | B+ | — | C+ | D |
| Kernville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wofford Heights reports no FBI crime data of its own. Kernville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Wofford Heights with a neighbor →
Questions about Wofford Heights
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Wofford Heights, CA a good place to live?
Wofford Heights grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #581 of 841 in California. It grades D for health and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Wofford Heights, CA expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.