Kern 3rd Best Performing Metro In California
Written by David Lyman. Posted Tuesday, December 10, 2013 on VisitBakersfield.com.
Kern County is the third best performing metro in California, and the 19th best in the nation, according to a report released December 5 by the Milken Institute.
The Institute’s annual index of Best-Performing Cities shows that technology and energy are the biggest forces behind America’s booming metros.
According to the report, the Bakersfield-Delano metro area (which includes all of Kern County), “. . . held steady at 19th due to a good performance in job and wage growth. Despite lagging the state and the nation in educational attainment, the metro had the seventh-highest growth in five-year high-tech output, but the one-year indicator is less competitive. At 13.3 percent in 2012, unemployment remains well above the national average.”
Details of the report’s findings about Kern County are below. To read more about this report: http://www.best-cities.org/best-performing-cities.html
Milken Institute:
#19(unchanged) Bakersfield–Delano, CA
JOB GROWTH (2007-12) 31ST
JOB GROWTH (2011-12) 12TH
WAGE GROWTH (2006-11) 25TH
WAGE GROWTH (2010-11) 33RD
SHORT-TERM JOB GROWTH (7/2012-7/2013) 65TH
HIGH-TECH GDP GROWTH (2007-12) 7TH
HIGH-TECH GDP GROWTH (2011-12) 118TH
HIGH-TECH GDP CONCENTRATION 144TH
NUMBER OF HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES (LQ>=1) 68TH
ASSETS:
» The metro benefits from being close to Los Angeles but with lower overhead costs.
» The Monterey Shale has the potential to strengthen the regional mining industry.
LIABILITIES:
» The metro lags the state and the nation in educational attainment.
BAKERSFIELD-DELANO, CALIFORNIA, held steady at 19th due to a good performance in job and wage growth. Despite lagging the state and the nation in educational attainment, the Bakersfield-Delano metro had the seventh-highest growth in five-year high-tech output, but the one-year indicator is less competitive. At 13.3 percent in 2012, unemployment remains higher than in many other regions on the list and well above the national average.
With a location near major markets, good transportation links, and competitively priced real estate, the Bakersfield-Delano metro is an attractive site for distribution centers. Caterpillar opened a new parts distribution center there in 2012 to serve California, Nevada, and Arizona. Local military bases support consumer spending, but military budget cuts could dull the impact.
Interest in the vast oil reserves in the Monterey Shale has been tempered by technical and state regulatory challenges to extracting oil from the formation. This may prevent the mining industry from meeting some of the more optimistic growth projections. However, employment at firms supporting the oil and gas industry expanded by 830 jobs in 2012.