Kern County · California
Bakersfield, CA public schools
Enrollment, school count, staffing and per-pupil spending for Bakersfield City — federal education data, not a star rating.
Quick answer
Bakersfield City is the primary public district for Bakersfield, CA. It enrolls 28,835 students in 45 schools with 1,336 full-time-equivalent teachers, and spends $16,075 per pupil, 7% below the $17,320 median across the metros covered here.
- Students enrolled
- 28,835NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22
- Schools in the district
- 45Operating school count
- Students per teacher
- 21.6Enrollment ÷ FTE teachers, not class size
- Spending per pupil
- $16,075Total current expenditure, FY2020
Who pays for schools in Bakersfield
Where the district's money comes from, FY2020.
- Local revenue
- 6.9%
- $36,598,000
- State revenue
- 76%
- $404,943,000
- Federal revenue
- 17.2%
- $91,547,000
Local revenue is mostly property tax, which is why the Bakersfield property tax rate and school funding move together. Of every dollar spent, about 60 cents reaches instruction — teacher salaries, benefits and classroom materials — with the rest covering transport, buildings, food service and administration.
What this data covers
Read this before comparing districts.
Figures describe Bakersfield City (LEAID 0603630) as a whole, not any individual school. Charter schools authorised outside the district, private schools and regional vocational schools are not included. Where a city is served by a county-wide district, the county district is used and its catchment is wider than the city limits. Enrollment is from the 2021-22 NCES collection; money is from the FY2020 Census school finance survey, which is the most recent complete national release — the two years do not line up exactly, so per-pupil spending is a stable indicator rather than a current budget line.
Keep going
Other Bakersfield data on this site.
NCES LEAID 0603630. Finance figures are Census Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33) totals as redistributed by the Urban Institute Education Data API.