Moving to
Rosamond.

All Rosamond data Compare Rosamond

21,473people live here $79,386median household incomeNear US average $1,498median rent per monthNear US average $352,600median home valueNear US average

Rosamond is an unincorporated community in Kern County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Rosamond

Rosamond is an unincorporated community in California. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Rosamond deals with county unemployment above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The not so good

Above-average unemployment in the county
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters

How Rosamond compares

Median household income

Rosamond$79,386

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Rosamond$1,498

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Rosamond$352,600

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Rosamond

Based on Rosamond's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,996

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $59,920 a year
58% of Rosamond renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$70,520

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $35,260
Homes cost 4.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,498/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,498 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices run above average, with a median around $352,600. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $352,600 · 58% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

9.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Kern County is 9.0%, well above the national average of 4.3%. Moving with a job already lined up matters more here. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Kern County (county-wide)

Safety

1060 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Rosamond doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Kern County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 2069/100k · Policed by Kern County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 20% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 31.3 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 8% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

79%

Carpool

11%

Work from home

7.8%

Walk

1.4%

Other

0.9%

Public transit

0.2%

Climate

Summers run seriously hot, with average highs pushing 96°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 32°F and snow a regular occurrence. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 55% below US

16% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

6 public schools inside the boundary

There are 6 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 21:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is César E. Chávez National Monument (34 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Nothing in Rosamond's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are county unemployment above the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,498/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone moving without a job lined up and anyone who doesn't drive.

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