Oildale is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in
Kern County
Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield.
Kern County compris ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States. Oildale is located north-northwest of downtown
Bakersfield
Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region.
Bakersfield's population as of the ...
,
at an elevation of .
The population was 32,684 at the 2010 census, up from 27,885 at the 2000 census. In the 2020 census, Oildale's population was 35,520. It is an unincorporated
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
an town just north of Bakersfield across the
Kern River
The Kern River is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between ...
, west of the
Kern River Oil Field, and east of
Highway 99.
History
Previously called Waits
and North Side,
Oildale was founded in 1909 when Samuel Dickinson subdivided his land.
The first post office opened at Oildale in 1916.
Most of the original
U-2 spy planes flown out of
Groom Lake
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, north-northwest of Las Vegas.
A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Ba ...
were built at a secret factory in Oildale disguised as a tire factory, just west of
Meadows Field Airport on Norris Road.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.
Oildale is adjacent to three large oil fields, including two of the largest in California. The enormous
Kern River Oil Field to the east and northeast has more active oil wells (9,183 at the end of 2006) than any other field in California except for the
Midway-Sunset Oil Field
The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States. It is the largest known oilfield in California and also the largest oil field in the country by total oil in place (around 2 ...
in southwestern Kern County (which has 11,145). Also adjacent is the huge
Kern Front Oil Field, north of town, and the smaller
Fruitvale Oil Field, to the southwest.
Demographics
2020
The
2020 United States census reported that Oildale had a population of 36,135. The population density was . The racial makeup of Oildale was 66.3%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.6%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 2.0%
Native American, 1.3%
Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 14.7% from
other races, and 13.0% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 30.7% of the population.
The census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.
[
There were 13,025 households, out of which 36.9% included children under the age of 18, 34.9% were married-couple households, 11.2% were ]cohabiting
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...
couple households, 32.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 21.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 25.9% of households were one person, and 10.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.76.[ There were 8,504 ]families
Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(65.3% of all households).
The age distribution was 28.1% under the age of 18, 8.8% aged 18 to 24, 28.8% aged 25 to 44, 22.6% aged 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 32.7years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males.[
There were 13,769 housing units at an average density of , of which 13,025 (94.6%) were occupied. Of these, 40.4% were owner-occupied, and 59.6% were occupied by renters.][
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 6.3% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 80.9% spoke only English at home, 16.9% spoke ]Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
, 0.9% spoke other Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
, 0.6% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.6% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 82.2% were high school graduates and 12.3% had a bachelor's degree.
The median household income in 2023 was $49,622, and the per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
was $23,955. About 23.5% of families and 26.9% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010
At the 2010 census Oildale had a population of 32,684. The population density was . The racial makeup of Oildale was 27,463 (84.0%) White, 255 (0.8%) African American, 590 (1.8%) Native American, 316 (1.0%) Asian, 30 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 2,635 (8.1%) from other races, and 1,395 (4.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6,301 persons (19.3%).
The census reported that 32,636 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 48 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.
There were 12,023 households, 4,775 (39.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,476 (37.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,372 (19.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,078 (9.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,322 (11.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 132 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,099 households (25.8%) were one person and 1,062 (8.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.71. There were 7,926 families (65.9% of households); the average family size was 3.23.
The age distribution was 9,426 people (28.8%) under the age of 18, 3,627 people (11.1%) aged 18 to 24, 8,810 people (27.0%) aged 25 to 44, 7,561 people (23.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,260 people (10.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 31.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
There were 13,555 housing units at an average density of 2,075.0 per square mile, of the occupied units 5,211 (43.3%) were owner-occupied and 6,812 (56.7%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.5%. 13,576 people (41.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 19,060 people (58.3%) lived in rental housing units.
People from Oildale
* Vern Burke - Pro football player
*Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...
- Country music artist
*Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''.
He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...
- NASCAR driver
* Gerald Haslam - Author
* Amber Hollibaugh - Writer, filmmaker, activist and organizer
*Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. He pioneered what came ...
- Country music artist
*Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...
- Lead singer of Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...
* John Joseph Hernandez - Last rightful heir and sovereign ruler of Oildale
References
External links
{{authority control
Census-designated places in Kern County, California
Populated places established in 1909
1909 establishments in California
Census-designated places in California