Kern County

Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 839,631. Its county seat is Bakersfield.

Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county spans the southern end of the Central Valley. Covering 8,161.42 square miles, it ranges west to the southern slope of the Coast Ranges, and east beyond the southern slope of the eastern Sierra Nevada into the Mojave Desert.

The county’s economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction. There is also a strong aviation, space, and military presence, such as Edwards Air Force Base, the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, and the Mojave Air and Space Port.