Elevation of Bakersfield
404ft
above sea level · 123 m
Bakersfield is a city in California with 422,165 people, the 9th most populous in the state. Of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people, it’s the 38th lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 35.37° N · 119.02° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 35° 22′ 24″ N · 119° 1′ 7″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 11S · 316,617 E · 3,916,312 N
- Zone 11 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 422,165 people
- 150 sq mi of land · 2,806 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from September 2023: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Bakersfield had 422,165 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 4.4% more than in April 2020, when it had 404,362. Its 150 sq mi of land work out to 2,806 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 9th most populous of the 1,617 places the Census counts in California (cities, towns and CDPs), after Los Angeles (3,869,089), and holds 1.1% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Kern County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.8 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other big cities
Bakersfield sits at 404 ft (123 m) above sea level. Of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people, the highest is Colorado Springs (6,009 ft) and the lowest is New Orleans (0 ft). The average is 858 ft: Bakersfield is 454 ft below it.
The state capital, Sacramento, is 260 mi away in a straight line and 377 ft lower than Bakersfield.
Of the 15 cities in California with a page, Bakersfield is the 2nd highest: the highest is Riverside (829 ft) and the lowest is Stockton (12 ft).
The highest point in California is Mount Whitney, at 14,494 ft according to the USGS: 14,090 ft above Bakersfield, 93 mi away in a straight line.
- 54 Bakersfield 404 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
Nearest cities with a page
Tools for this place
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Bakersfield.
What is the elevation of Bakersfield?
Bakersfield is 404 feet (123 m) above sea level. That’s the ground height from the USGS 3DEP elevation model at the city’s reference point in the official gazetteer (GNIS). The city doesn’t have a single elevation: it rises and falls from one neighborhood to another.
What are the coordinates of Bakersfield?
Latitude 35.37329 and longitude -119.01871, in decimal degrees (35° 22′ 24″ N · 119° 1′ 7″ W). In UTM, zone 11: 316,617 E and 3,916,312 N, on NAD83.
How does Bakersfield rank among the highest big cities?
It’s the 38th lowest of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people. The highest is Colorado Springs (6,009 ft) and the lowest is New Orleans (0 ft).
What county is Bakersfield in?
Kern County, California.
Which is higher, Bakersfield or Sacramento?
Bakersfield. Bakersfield sits at 404 ft and Sacramento at 27 ft: a difference of 377 ft, 260 mi apart in a straight line.
How is elevation measured?
Elevation is the height above mean sea level. In the US the official reference is the NAVD88 vertical datum. Summits are surveyed on the ground, with leveling and precise GPS. The USGS 3DEP is an elevation model of the whole country, largely from 1-meter lidar: it gives the ground height at every point. That’s why it can differ by a few feet from the official figure of a sharp summit.
Sources
- USGS 3DEP (EPQS service) The elevation: the ground height at the reference point. Public domain.
- USGS GNIS (official gazetteer) The city’s reference point (“Populated Place”). Public domain.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates Population, land area (2025 Gazetteer) and counties. Public domain.
- TIGERweb (U.S. Census Bureau) Which county and city the point falls in. Public domain.
- timezone-boundary-builder The point’s time zone (ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors).
- Terrain Tiles, OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap The relief shading and the base map (ODbL).
Methodology and sources · Spotted a mistake? Let us know