Oildale, California

"Oildale" redirects here. For the Korn song, see Oildale (Leave Me Alone).

Oildale
—  census-designated place  —
Location in Kern County and the state of California
Coordinates: 35°25′11″N 119°01′10″W / 35.41972°N 119.01944°W / 35.41972; -119.01944Coordinates: 35°25′11″N 119°01′10″W / 35.41972°N 119.01944°W / 35.41972; -119.01944
Country	United States
State	California
County	Kern
Government
– N/A
– Senate	Roy Ashburn (R)
– Assembly	Jean Fuller (R)
– U. S. Congress	Kevin McCarthy (R)
Area[1]
– Total	6.533 sq mi (16.919 km2)
– Land	6.533 sq mi (16.919 km2)
– Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation[2]	469 ft (143 m)
Population (2010)
– Total	32,684
– Density	5,002.9/sq mi (1,931.8/km2)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	93308
Area code(s)	661
FIPS code	06-53448
GNIS feature ID	1652762

Oildale (formerly, Waits^[2] and North Side^[3]) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Oildale is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield,^[3] at an elevation of 469 feet (143 m).^[2] The population was 32,684 at the 2010 census, up from 27,885 at the 2000 census. It is an unincorporated suburban town just north of Bakersfield across the Kern River, west of the Kern River Oilfield, and east of Highway 99.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.5 square miles (16.8 km²), 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 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.^[4]

History

Oildale was founded in 1909 when Samuel Dickinson subdivided his land.^[3] The first post office opened at Oildale in 1916.^[3] Most of the original U-2 spy planes flown out of Groom Lake were built at a secret factory in Oildale disguised as a tire factory. The K.K.K was very prominent in Oildale in the early '60s, oftentimes parading down North Chester Avenue.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[5] reported that Oildale had a population of 32,684. The population density was 5,003.2 people per square mile (1,931.8/km²). 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 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 12,023 households, out of which 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 made up of individuals and 1,062 (8.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71. There were 7,926 families (65.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.23.

The population was spread out with 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 years of age 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 (801.2/km²), of which 5,211 (43.3%) were owner-occupied, and 6,812 (56.7%) were occupied by renters. 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.

2000

According to the census^[6] of 2000, there were 27,885 people, 10,983 households, and 7,084 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,332.3 people per square mile (1,671.8/km²). There were 11,952 housing units at an average density of 1,856.9 per square mile (716.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.99% White, 0.34% Black or African American, 2.19% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 4.79% from other races, and 3.29% from two or more races. 10.14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 10,983 households out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,041, and the median income for a family was $32,397. Males had a median income of $31,514 versus $21,715 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $13,342. About 17.2% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.1% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people from Oildale

• Merle Haggard - Country music artist
• Buck Owens - Country music artist
• Kevin Harvick - NASCAR Driver
• Gerald Haslam - Author

References

1. ^ U.S. Census
2. ^ ^{a b c} U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Oildale, California
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Quill Driver Books. p. 1083. ISBN 9781884995149. 
4. ^ California Department of Conservation, Oil and Gas Statistics, Annual Report, December 31, 2006, p. 4
5. ^ All data are derived from the United States Census Bureau reports from the 2010 United States Census, and are accessible on-line here. The data on unmarried partnerships and same-sex married couples are from the Census report DEC_10_SF1_PCT15. All other housing and population data are from Census report DEC_10_DP_DPDP1. Both reports are viewable online or downloadable in a zip file containing a comma-delimited data file. The area data, from which densities are calculated, are available on-line here. Percentage totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The Census Bureau defines families as a household containing one or more people related to the householder by birth, opposite-sex marriage, or adoption. People living in group quarters are tabulated by the Census Bureau as neither owners nor renters. For further details, see the text files accompanying the data files containing the Census reports mentioned above.
6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Oildale, California at the Open Directory Project