Rank

3131of 3,144

Kern, California

Score 3.79 / 10· population 913,820

About 913,800 people live in Kern, California. It ranks #3,131 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #58 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 7.25%, higher than in 71% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.89% of a home's value each year, more than in 62% of counties. Local government employs a larger share of working residents than in 73% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 90% of counties. Life expectancy is about 74.5 years, shorter than in 61% of counties. Air quality is worse than in almost every other county (a typical day's air quality index is 70), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 97% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values