Special Report

Bakersfield, CA Is Among the Most Dangerous US Metro Areas

Samuel Stebbins

Published: November 8, 2021 12:01 pm

Last Updated: November 9, 2021 8:41 am

The U.S. violent crime rate — an annual, population-adjusted measure of cases of rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide — climbed by 5% in 2020. The increase was driven by a rise in aggravated assault and, most notably, a historic 29% surge in homicides that made 2020 the deadliest year in the United States since the mid-1990s.

Despite the largest single-year increase in homicides on record, the overall violent crime rate in 2020 remains relatively low by historical standards. There were 1.3 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. in 2020, or 399 for every 100,000 people. For context, the violent crime rate ranged between 523 and 758 incidents per 100,000 throughout the 1990s.

Of course, crime is a local phenomenon influenced by a wide range of factors. As a result, violent crime rates in the U.S. can vary considerably from place to place — and in some metro areas, rates of violence far exceed the nation-level highs recorded in decades past.

There were 6,216 violent crimes reported in the Bakersfield, California, metro area in 2020, or 692 for every 100,000 people. Like much of the country, Bakersfield is suffering from a surge in violence. Though reported cases of rape and robbery declined in the area year over year, aggravated assault cases climbed by 20.8% and homicides surged by 38.1%. As a result, the overall violent crime rate climbed 11.5% year over year.

Local police officials attribute high and rising crime, in part, to a statewide reduction in prison populations, which has resulted in the release of some violent offenders after serving less than half of their sentence.

Metro areas are ranked on their violent crime rate using data from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report. Additional data on specific crimes are also from the 2020 FBI UCR. Poverty rates are one-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.