Bodfish, California

Bodfish
census-designated place
View of Bodfish from Caliente-Bodfish Road in the hills west of town View of Bodfish from Caliente-Bodfish Road in the hills west of town
Location in Kern County and the state of California Location in Kern County and the state of California
Template:Location map
Coordinates: 35°35′17″N 118°29′31″W
Country	United States
State	Template:Country data California
County	Kern
Government
• State senator	Template:Representative
• Assemblymember	Template:Representative
• U. S. rep.	Template:Representative
Area
• Total	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Land	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Water	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp  0.15%
Elevation	Template:Infobox settlement/lengthdisp
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,008
• Density	Template:Infobox settlement/densdisp
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	93205
Area codes	442/760
FIPS code	06-07274
GNIS feature ID	1660353
Template:Gnis

Bodfish is a census-designated place (CDP) in the southern Kern River Valley of the Southern Sierra Nevada, in Kern County, California, United States.

Bodfish is located 32 miles (51 km) east-northeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2,687 feet (819 m).

The population was 2,008 at the 2020 census, up from 1,956 at the 2010 census.

History

File:Bodfish California guide sign.JPG

Guide sign along Lake Isabella Boulevard at the east extent of Bodfish

The place was named for George Homer Bodfish, who settled nearby in 1867.

The Bodfish post office first opened in 1892, closed in 1895, and re-opened in 1906. The Vaughn post office was moved to Bodfish in 1906.

Demographics

Bodfish first appeared as a census designated place in the 1980 United States census.

Racial and ethnic composition

Bodfish CDP, California – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	1,607	1,643	1,602	88.15%	84.00%	79.78%
Black or African American alone (NH)	3	4	21	0.16%	0.20%	1.05%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	40	42	32	2.19%	2.15%	1.59%
Asian alone (NH)	11	13	18	0.60%	0.66%	0.90%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	1	3	2	0.05%	0.15%	0.10%
Other race alone (NH)	0	5	13	0.00%	0.26%	0.65%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	62	57	108	3.40%	2.91%	5.38%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	99	189	212	5.43%	9.66%	10.56%
Total	1,823	1,956	2,008	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Bodfish had a population of 2,008 and a population density of 244.5 inhabitants per square mile (94.4/km²).

The age distribution was 14.7% under the age of 18, 6.1% aged 18 to 24, 17.2% aged 25 to 44, 33.0% aged 45 to 64, and 29.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.2 males age 18 and over.

The whole population lived in households. There were 958 households, of which 15.4% had children under the age of 18, 34.4% were married-couple households, 8.9% were cohabiting couple households, 27.9% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 28.8% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. Of all households, 37.7% were one-person households, and 19.0% were one-person households with someone aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.10, and there were 511 families (53.3% of all households).

There were 1,215 housing units at an average density of 147.9 units per square mile (57.1 units/km²), of which 958 (78.8%) were occupied and 21.2% were vacant. Of occupied units, 72.5% were owner-occupied and 27.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.0%.

In 2020, 27.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 72.4% lived in rural areas.

Income and poverty

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $33,295, and the per capita income was $16,165. About 42.4% of families and 54.8% of the population were below the poverty line.