Mc Farland, California.
Typical home $312,938 (+1.3% in a year). Bakersfield, CA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$900 (+121%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $4,096 +1%
- $308,841$312,938 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $70,295 +29%
- $242,642$312,938 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Mc Farland$1,643
- California$3,997
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 14 years.
Typical home values in Mc Farland, CA rose 1.3% over the past year — in step with the nation.
Living in Mc Farland, Kern County, California
Mc Farland is a city of 14,161 people in Kern County. Half its households earn more than $54,608 a year and half less, against $70,210 across Kern County; 24% of its people live below the poverty line. 57% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 43% are rented. Unemployment in Kern County was 8.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.2% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in farming, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 24 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. McFarland is a small city in Kern County with a young population, far younger than most of the country. Incomes run below the county's, and more households live below the poverty line than is typical. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and few adults hold a four-year degree. Winters are mild and cool, summers are hot and dry, and snow is rare.
Work. Farming is a large part of life here, and residents also work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, and in professional and business services. The biggest local workplaces include McFarland Unified, the school district, along with several farm labor contractors such as M&J Farm Labor Contractor and 4 Suns Farm Labor Service. Unemployment across Kern County is higher than it is in much of the country, and the county has lost a few jobs over the past year. Commutes are of a moderate length, and very few people work from home.
Things to do. Several outdoor and history stops lie a longer drive away. The Kern River is the best known, and Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park is a protected area that preserves local history. Pixley National Wildlife Refuge is another protected area, suited to a quiet day among open land and birds.
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- 3,570households
- 6%of adults have a degree
- 24%below the poverty line
- 24 mintypical commute
- 4%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Kern County had 347,044 jobs in 2025, 0.2% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 56° and lows near 38°; warmest in July, with highs near 97° and lows near 68°. About 8 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Delano weather station, 7 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Mc Farland
- McFarland UnifiedSchool district350FTE
- Rafael MedinaLabor contractors, farm262
- M&J Farm Labor ContractorFarm labor contractors199
- 4 Suns Farm Labor ServiceFarm labor contractors146
- Martin Loera MedinaFarm labor contractors65
- alta sierraAgriculture production or harvesting crews60
- MMR FLCAgriculture production or harvesting crews54
- Carreon agFarm labor contractors34
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 9 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 872 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Heat wavesRelatively high
- EarthquakesRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Mc Farland’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Kern County and the Bakersfield, CA metro.
Mc Farland home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Mc Farland$312,938
- California$761,538
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Mc Farland13
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Mc Farland address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Mc Farland — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.