A new study by the website BackgroundChecks.o rg is ranking cities by how safe they are across the state. In Kern County, Shafter was ranked the safest coming in at number 73. Bakersfield was ranked 231 out of 267 cities. Arvin was ranked 255.
Tehachapi, Delano, McFarland, California City, and Ridgecrest all ranked safer than Bakersfield and Arvin.
Researchers looked at cities with 10,000 or more people and calculated the violent crime rates and property crime rates compared to the population and number of law enforcement workers to come up with the rankings.
The safest city in the state according to the study is Hillsborough followed by Palos Verdes Estates and Beverly Hills.