Bakersfield crime by year: the official counts
Every police agency in California reports crime to the state Department of Justice (DOJ), which publishes the figures on OpenJustice. The table below comes from the DOJ's Crimes and Clearances file covering 1985 to 2025, released in July 2026. It shows offenses reported by the Bakersfield Police Department only. The California State University, Bakersfield campus police report separately (26 property crimes and one violent crime in 2025), and homes outside the city limits are covered by the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes | Burglaries | Motor vehicle thefts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,678 | 14,595 | 4,065 | 2,283 |
| 2015 | 1,810 | 15,559 | 3,877 | 2,394 |
| 2016 | 1,821 | 17,138 | 3,887 | 3,048 |
| 2017 | 1,827 | 15,507 | 3,667 | 2,777 |
| 2018 | 1,895 | 16,097 | 4,025 | 2,777 |
| 2019 | 1,766 | 16,074 | 3,888 | 2,909 |
| 2020 | 2,007 | 15,619 | 3,134 | 3,829 |
| 2021 | 2,086 | 16,936 | 2,634 | 4,783 |
| 2022 | 2,247 | 16,359 | 3,184 | 4,857 |
| 2023 | 3,645 | 13,761 | 2,842 | 4,269 |
| 2024 | 2,308 | 10,277 | 2,237 | 2,801 |
| 2025 | 2,081 | 9,400 | 1,748 | 1,979 |
What made up Bakersfield's 2025 total
The 2,081 violent crimes in 2025 were 33 homicides, 103 rapes, 482 robberies and 1,463 aggravated assaults. The 9,400 property crimes were 1,748 burglaries, 1,979 motor vehicle thefts and 5,673 larceny-thefts. Dividing by the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 population estimate for the city, 411,986, gives about 505 violent and 2,282 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Using the same DOJ file and the Census statewide estimate of 39,287,377, California recorded about 434 violent and 1,797 property crimes per 100,000 in 2025. On these figures Bakersfield's violent rate is about 16% above the state's and its property rate about 27% above.
The trend from 2014 to 2025
Property crime in Bakersfield stayed between roughly 14,600 and 17,100 a year from 2014 to 2022, then dropped to 13,761 in 2023, 10,277 in 2024 and 9,400 in 2025, the lowest count in the twelve years shown. Car theft drove much of the swing: motor vehicle thefts climbed from 2,283 in 2014 to a peak of 4,857 in 2022, then fell back to 1,979 in 2025. Burglaries fell from 4,065 in 2014 to 1,748 in 2025. Violent crime moved the other way for most of the decade, rising from 1,678 in 2014 to 2,247 in 2022. Homicides peaked at 60 in 2021 and were 33 in 2025.
The 2023 spike in aggravated assaults
The violent total for 2023, 3,645, stands out: aggravated assaults nearly doubled from 1,417 in 2022 to 2,807, then fell to 1,587 in 2024 and 1,463 in 2025. California agencies have been moving from the old summary reporting system to the FBI's incident-based system (NIBRS), which records every offense in an incident rather than only the most serious one. The DOJ file does not explain the Bakersfield jump, so treat 2023 with caution and do not read a single year as a trend. If the reason matters to your decision, ask the department's records unit how its 2023 counts were compiled.
Bakersfield compared with the rest of Kern County
Across every agency in Kern County, the DOJ file records 5,968 violent and 17,416 property crimes in 2025. Bakersfield police accounted for 35% of the county's violent crimes and 54% of its property crimes, while the city holds about 45% of the county's 915,075 residents (Census 2020-2024). The Kern County Sheriff's Office, which patrols unincorporated areas, recorded 3,139 violent and 5,906 property crimes. Delano police recorded 167 and 345, and Ridgecrest police 159 and 238.
Why the city limits matter for a Bakersfield address
Many homes with a Bakersfield mailing address are not inside the city. Census boundary files show that most of ZIP 93308 lies in unincorporated Oildale and the surrounding county, and that large parts of 93307, 93311, 93313 and 93314 are outside city limits, including Rosedale, Lamont, Old River and Lakeside. Crimes at those homes are counted under the Sheriff's Office, not the Bakersfield Police Department, so the city figures above do not describe them. Before you look up any statistic, confirm on the parcel record which agency serves the address. Our Bakersfield ZIP codes page shows how each ZIP splits between the city and county areas.
What official crime numbers do and do not tell you
These are crimes reported to police and recorded under standard definitions. They are not the total amount of crime, the number of victims, or a measure of risk at any one street. Three limits are worth keeping in mind.
- Counts follow activity, not only residents. Bakersfield is by far the largest city in Kern County and draws workers, shoppers and visitors from across it, so thefts and assaults are recorded where they happen, including incidents involving people who live elsewhere.
- Clearance rates vary. The same DOJ file shows Bakersfield police cleared 1,081 of 2,081 violent crimes (52%) and 1,414 of 9,400 property crimes (15%) in 2025, against about 46% and 11% statewide. A clearance means an offense was closed by arrest or other means, not that it led to a conviction.
- No official neighborhood rates exist. The DOJ and FBI publish by agency. Sites that grade Bakersfield neighborhoods typically model or blend figures for areas that have no official breakdown.
That last point is why this page does not rank neighborhoods. A grade built on modeled data can mislead you, and it is no substitute for looking at the blocks around a home yourself. For a statewide view built on the same DOJ file, see our guide to California crime rates by city.
How to check crime near a Bakersfield address
Bakersfield Police Department statistics and dashboard
The department lists its public data under Statistics & Data on the city website. KGET reported that the department launched a free Community Crime Dashboard there, with filters for crime type, location and time frame, a map, and charts of violent and property crime rates per 1,000 residents. The department also releases monthly figures: for March 2026 it reported 44 robberies, 120 aggravated assaults, 89 burglaries, 149 vehicle thefts and two homicides, and said all figures were preliminary and subject to change (GV Wire, April 2026). Monthly counts swing, so compare the same months across years.
Kern County Sheriff's Office Community Crime Map
For homes outside city limits, the Sheriff's Office publishes a Community Crime Map, an interactive report showing reported crime activity by location. Its Reports and Statistics page holds its other published reports. The office's headquarters is at 1350 Norris Road, and its main line is (661) 391-7500.
California DOJ OpenJustice
OpenJustice is the best source for long-run trends and for comparing Bakersfield with other cities on the same definitions. It reports by agency and year only, so use it for context, not for a street.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The FBI's Crime Data Explorer shows each agency's federal submissions with state and national comparisons. Check which months the agency reported in full before comparing years, because federal and state figures can differ for the same year.
Megan's Law website
The California DOJ's Megan's Law site lets you search registered sex offenders near an address. Run the search yourself for any home you are considering.
On-the-ground checks in Bakersfield
Drive the street at night and on a weekend, talk to neighbors, and if the home has an HOA, ask whether it pays for patrols or gates and what incidents it has dealt with. Ask the seller what security systems or cameras convey with the house. Insurance quotes, which you should get before removing your contingencies, also reflect an insurer's view of a specific address.
Flood, fire and earthquake checks in Bakersfield
For a Bakersfield homeowner, a natural hazard can cost more than a burglary, and these risks are mapped to the parcel.
Kern River flood risk and Isabella Dam
Bakersfield sits downstream of Isabella Dam on the Kern River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished the main phase of its Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project, which raised the auxiliary dam by 16 feet and added a new emergency spillway, with a ribbon-cutting in 2023; the project was meant to reduce flood risk for downstream communities like Bakersfield (23ABC). For any address, look up the flood zone on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask the seller about past water intrusion.
Earthquake history
The 1952 Kern County earthquake ruptured the White Wolf fault, and its August 22, 1952 aftershock, magnitude 5.8, killed two people and caused about $10 million in damage, mostly to brick buildings in a 64-block area of downtown Bakersfield (Southern California Earthquake Data Center). Older unreinforced masonry is worth a structural question. See our California earthquake insurance guide.
Wildfire zones and the hazard disclosure
Cal OES's MyHazards tool returns flood, fire and earthquake hazards for an address. The seller's Natural Hazard Disclosure report states whether a parcel is in a fire hazard severity zone; our California wildfire zones guide explains what each zone means for insurance and defensible space, and the seller disclosure guide covers the reports you should receive.
Using this data when you buy in Bakersfield
Start with the agency that serves the address, then pull its map or dashboard for the blocks around the home, compare the same months across at least two years, and add the hazard checks above. Weigh what you find against price, commute and the house itself. Our Bakersfield neighborhoods guide compares areas on home values, and the Bakersfield housing market report covers prices and days on market. Zillow's typical home value in Bakersfield was $385,686 in September 2026, unchanged over the year. For local help weighing a specific street, see the Bakersfield guide.