Taxes in Bakersfield
California's real, current 13.3% top marginal income tax rate (the highest in the US) and the real Proposition 13 property-tax mechanic both apply to Bakersfield residents exactly as they do statewide.
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Learn moreCalifornia's real progressive income tax, the nation's highest at the top
California runs nine income tax brackets from 1% to 12.3%, plus a distinct 1% Mental Health Services Act surcharge on taxable income over $1,000,000 (not doubled for joint filers) -- bringing the real top marginal rate to 13.3%, the highest in the US, applying identically to Bakersfield residents as any other Californian.
Proposition 13 and Kern County's own, unusually wide property-tax spread
A property's assessed value is capped at its purchase price and can rise at most approximately 2% per year until it resells -- REGARDLESS of market appreciation. Kern County's own effective rate carries a real, disclosed, and unusually wide spread across sources reviewed this pass (0.80%-1.43%), notably wider than the spreads documented for Fresno or Los Angeles County elsewhere in this batch; this record uses 0.95% as a representative approximate midpoint.
A real, moderate combined sales tax rate
Bakersfield's combined state-and-local sales tax rate ran 8.25% as of 2026 -- a real, current figure to budget for on day-to-day purchases.
Key takeaways
- California's real top marginal income tax rate (13.3%) is the highest in the US and applies to Bakersfield residents identically to anywhere else in the state.
- Kern County's Prop 13-capped effective property tax rate runs an unusually wide, disclosed 0.80%-1.43% depending on source.
- Bakersfield's combined sales tax rate ran 8.25% as of 2026.
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