McFarland, California

McFarland (formerly, Hunt and Lone Pine) at an elevation of .

History

In the early 1900s, an educator named James Boyd McFarland moved to the Anaheim area from Zanesville, Ohio, to try his hand at real estate and walnut farming.

McFarland visited Kern County in 1907 and was impressed with the land's crop-growing potential near a community called Hunt's Siding, which was a small agriculture and livestock-based community that served about 50 families. With help from Bakersfield real estate businessman William Laird, McFarland bought 50 acres at the location of what is now McFarland.

The first post office opened in 1908.

In 2015, the movie McFarland, USA was released, based on a true story that occurred at McFarland High School.

| align = right

| align-fn = center

McFarland first appeared as an unincorporated community in the 1950 U.S. census; and then as a city in the 1960 U.S. census

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+McFarland city, California – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|977

|743

|style='background: #ffffe6; |421

|10.16%

|5.85%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.97%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|273

|171

|style='background: #ffffe6; |78

|2.84%

|1.35%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.55%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|31

|13

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17

|0.32%

|0.10%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.12%

|Asian alone (NH)

|56

|68

|style='background: #ffffe6; |115

|0.58%

|0.54%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.81%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|0.08%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|Other race alone (NH)

|15

|61

|style='background: #ffffe6; |36

|0.16%

|0.48%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.25%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|19

|21

|style='background: #ffffe6; |40

|0.20%

|0.17%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.28%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|8,239

|11,625

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13,451

|85.66%

|91.49%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |94.99%

|Total

|9,618

|12,707

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14,161

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, McFarland had a population of 14,161 and a population density of . The median age was 27.6 years. The age distribution was 34.2% under the age of 18, 11.8% aged 18 to 24, 28.5% aged 25 to 44, 18.7% aged 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.3 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 97.2% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 2.7% were institutionalized. In addition, 99.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.1% lived in rural areas.

There were 3,345 households, out of which 63.9% included children under the age of 18, 57.8% were married-couple households, 8.4% were cohabiting couple households, 22.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 11.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 7.1% of households were one person, and 2.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 4.12. There were 2,997 families (89.6% of all households).

There were 3,412 housing units at an average density of , of which 3,345 (98.0%) were occupied. Of these, 57.6% were owner-occupied and 42.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 1.9%.

The median household income in 2023 was $51,801, and the per capita income was $16,525. About 24.9% of families and 27.5% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census

At the 2010 census McFarland had a population of 12,707. The population density was . The racial makeup of McFarland was 5,433 (42.8%) White, 236 (1.9%) African American, 171 (1.3%) Native American, 84 (0.7%) Asian, 6 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 6,330 (49.8%) from other races, and 447 (3.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,625 people (91.5%).

The census reported that 11,486 people (90.4% of the population) lived in households, 27 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,194 (9.4%) were institutionalized.

There were 2,599 households, 1,818 (69.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,663 (64.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 456 (17.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 246 (9.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 189 (7.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 14 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 170 households (6.5%) were one person and 71 (2.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 4.42. There were 2,365 families (91.0% of households); the average family size was 4.51.

The age distribution was 4,468 people (35.2%) under the age of 18, 1,700 people (13.4%) aged 18 to 24, 4,030 people (31.7%) aged 25 to 44, 1,925 people (15.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 584 people (4.6%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 25.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 128.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 142.4 males.

There were 2,683 housing units at an average density of 1,005.6 per square mile, of the occupied units 1,488 (57.3%) were owner-occupied and 1,111 (42.7%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 6,519 people (51.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 4,967 people (39.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Local parks

Arturo J. Munoz Park
Ritchey Park
McFarland Park
Browning Road Park
Blanco Park

Schools

Kern Avenue Elementary School
Browning Road Elementary School
McFarland Middle School
McFarland High School
San Joaquin High School (continuation)
McFarland Independent School
Horizon Elementary

Churches

Sherwood Avenue Baptist Church
Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church
El Buen Pastor Church
Iglesia Ni Cristo
Jehovah's Witnesses 124
Church of the Living Savior
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Mcfarland Apostolic Assembly
CrossPointe Baptist Church McFarland

References

External links

Greater McFarland Chamber of Commerce