Teachers
$90,5361
average salary on the schedule, 2024-25 · 37 reporting school districts
What public jobs pay in Kern County, California
Teachers, police officers, firefighters, registered nurses, correctional officers, librarians, paramedics and EMTs, 911 dispatchers, social workers and water operators in Kern County: the county figure for each job and every employer with a page, from official pay records.
How much does each public job pay in Kern County?
Teachers: average salary on the county's school district schedules. Every other job: average total pay of people who worked the full year, overtime included, across all of the county's employers, where at least 5 worked the full year.
Police officers
$121,3282
average total pay, full year, 2025, 373 worked the full year · 9 police departments
- Bakersfield$120,052
- Delano$143,288
- Ridgecrest$106,981
- Arvin$126,895
- Tehachapi$116,638
- McFarland$114,080
Firefighters
$119,5282
average total pay, full year, 2025, 218 worked the full year · 3 fire departments
- Kern County$117,743
- Bakersfield$123,159
- California City$139,256
Registered nurses
$137,9692
average total pay, full year, 2025, 472 worked the full year · 5 employers
- Kern County Hospital Authority$137,128
- Kern County$143,230
- Kern Valley Hospital DistrictNo average
- North Kern-South Tulare Hospital DistrictNo average
- West Side Health Care DistrictNo average
Correctional officers
$113,8152
average total pay, full year, 2025, 231 worked the full year · 2 prisons and jails
- Kern County$115,670
- Taft$85,059
Librarians
$103,9882
average total pay, full year, 2025, 11 worked the full year · 2 employers
- California State University, Bakersfield$102,099
- Kern CountyNo average
Paramedics and EMTs
$87,7802
average total pay, full year, 2025, 6 worked the full year · 1 employer
- Kern County$87,780
911 dispatchers
$89,8442
average total pay, full year, 2025, 121 worked the full year · 9 employers
- Kern County$100,010
- Bakersfield$82,987
- Delano$102,304
- Ridgecrest$76,676
- Shafter$84,862
- TehachapiNo average
Social workers
$85,4502
average total pay, full year, 2025, 456 worked the full year · 2 employers
- Kern County$85,504
- Kern County Hospital Authority$81,872
Water operators
$99,1672
average total pay, full year, 2025, 136 worked the full year · 14 employers
- Bakersfield$81,572
- Delano$89,974
- Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency$137,891
- Kern County$71,408
- Kern County Water Agency$132,568
- RidgecrestNo average
Public pay in the counties next to Kern County
Questions about public pay in Kern County
Which public job pays the most in Kern County?
Of the jobs on this page, registered nurses have the highest average total pay in Kern County: $137,969 for those who worked the full year, overtime included. Police officers average $121,328, firefighters average $119,528, correctional officers average $113,815, librarians average $103,988, water operators average $99,167, 911 dispatchers average $89,844, paramedics and EMTs average $87,780 and social workers average $85,450. Teachers average $90,536 on the salary schedule, a figure without overtime or extra pay.
How much do teachers make in Kern County?
$90,536 on average on the salary schedules of Kern County's 37 reporting school districts (2024-25). Each district's figure is on the Kern County teacher page.
Sources for the Kern County figures
Pay figures other than teachers' use only people who worked roughly the full year. Every figure covers at least 5 people.
- Each district's report to the California Department of Education, Form J-90 database, 2024-25: salary schedules and full-time equivalents.
- State Controller's Office, Government Compensation in California, 2025: positions, official pay ranges and wages reported by every city, county and special district, and for nurses, correctional officers and librarians by the University of California, state departments and, for librarians, the California State University and community college districts.