Taft, California
2026 Edition · 10 cards · data as of Oct 30, 2026
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Population
Down 6.5% since 2020.
6,995
people, the 409th-largest of California's cities and towns.
Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among California's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates
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The workday
8 in 10 jobs here go to people who live somewhere else.
75.2%
of 3,443 jobs located in Taft are filled by in-commuters.
Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES
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Rent
Median rent is up 81% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.
$1,069
a month. California's median is $2,036.
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Sources: Census ACS 5-year
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The seam
Cross one tract line and median rent doubles.
A $2,044 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Kern County.
- $1,457 Tract 5.10
- $3,501 Tract 5.09
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year
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Room to build
Local wages can carry more rent than the median charged today.
$1,154–$1,732
is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.
- $1,069 median
Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year
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Building
Most of the housing here is older than 2000.
- 66 homes permitted in ten years, 2016–2025
- 0% of those were in multifamily buildings
- 90% of all homes were built before 2000
Census Building Permits Survey, 2016–2025; Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census Building Permits Survey, Census ACS 5-year
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Units needed
Closing the gap would add 0.5–1.2% to the 2,876 homes here.
13–34
is the estimated number of missing housing units, from the lowest to the highest of three estimates.
Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac
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Home value
A median home costs 66% less than California's.
$252,600
median home value in Taft.
- $252,600 Taft
- $734,700 California
- $332,700 U.S.
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census ACS 5-year