Shafter recorded a median commercial property tax rate of 0.7% for fiscal year 2025, ranking seventh-lowest in Kern County, based on figures from BlockShopper.com.
Kern County’s median commercial tax rate that year was 0.9%, putting Shafter 0.2 percentage points lower.
Four additional cities across Kern County, such as Ridgecrest and Rosedale, also registered the 0.9% median tax rate in fiscal year 2025.
Among Kern County’s 24 cities, tax rates ranged between 0.3% in Mojave and 3.5% in East Bakersfield.
The prior year, Shafter’s median commercial property tax rate came in at 0.4%, which placed it 27th in the county.
Commercial property tax rates averaged 1.76% for 53 major U.S. cities in 2024, as reported by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Their analysis projects that a $1 million property, which includes $200,000 in fixtures, would have an estimated annual tax bill of about $21,060. Rates varied widely nationwide, with some cities below 1% and others reaching up to 4%.
Many states use classification systems that may assign higher property tax rates to commercial, industrial and apartment properties compared to residential holdings. In some regions, businesses pay tax rates several times higher than homeowners. For example, the rate in Charleston is roughly six times that of residential properties.
| Rank | City | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Bakersfield | 3.5% |
| 2 | Rexland Acres | 3.4% |
| 3 | China Lake Acres | 2.7% |
| 4 | Potomac Park | 1.5% |
| 5 | Delano | 1.1% |
| 6 | Wofford Heights | 1% |
| 6 | Taft | 1% |
| 6 | Tehachapi | 1% |
| 9 | Bakersfield | 0.9% |
| 9 | East Niles | 0.9% |
| 9 | Inyokern | 0.9% |
| 9 | California City | 0.9% |
| 13 | Lake Isabella | 0.8% |
| 13 | Oildale | 0.8% |
| 13 | Wasco | 0.8% |
| 13 | Rosamond | 0.8% |
| 13 | Lamont | 0.8% |
| 18 | Ridgecrest | 0.7% |
| 18 | Rosedale | 0.7% |
| 18 | Arvin | 0.7% |
| 18 | Golden Hills | 0.7% |
| 18 | Shafter | 0.7% |
| 23 | Greenfield | 0.5% |
| 24 | Mojave | 0.3% |
| Rank | Address | Tax Rate % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1110 E. Lerdo Highway | 1.2% |
| 1 | 150 E. Lerdo Highway | 1.2% |
| 3 | 455 Kern St. | 0.7% |
| 4 | 157 Central Valley Highway | 0.6% |
| 5 | 1320 E. Los Angeles St. | 0.4% |
Note: Some property addresses may be incomplete or missing due to limitations in county assessor data.
BlockShopper.com provided the information used in this article. The original source data is available here.