Kern County
California · FIPS 06029
According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Kern County ranks #76 of 3,210, and #10 of 58 in California.
Mortgage lending activity in Kern County, California based on lender filings under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Data covers all applications received by HMDA-reporting institutions operating in this county during 2024. Why mortgages get denied walks the denial-reason codes that appear in books like this one.
Local mortgage market. Kern County, California saw 28,510 HMDA-reported mortgage applications in 2024. Lenders originated 13,645 of those loans and denied 4,986, producing a denial rate of 17.5% and an approval (origination) rate of 47.9%. The average loan amount was $265,913 at an average note rate of 7.03%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $40K. 398 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.
Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 6.6x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 6.6 times their annual income. That ratio is a rough affordability signal: higher multiples imply tighter monthly budgets and greater exposure to rate or income shocks. See our methodology for how to read the denial rate against a local applicant pool. This page is informational data reporting, not financial, legal, or mortgage advice.
Lender concentration in Kern County
In Kern County, lead originator United Wholesale Mortgage funded 13.0% of 13,645 originated loans, in the middle tercile of U.S. counties (~10.9-16.7% top-1). The top three reporters together hold 25.2% of the book; a local credit union or regional bank still sits beside the national wholesalers.
Counties With Similar Application Volume
Nationwide counties nearest to Kern County's 28,510 HMDA applications.
Counties With a Similar Average Loan
Nationwide counties nearest to Kern County's $265,913 average loan (deduped against volume peers).
Lenders active in Kern County
United Wholesale Mortgage funded 1,779 of the 13,645 loans originated in Kern County, 13.0% of the county. 398 lenders reported activity here.
| # | Lender | Originated | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Wholesale Mortgage | 1,779 | 13.0% |
| 2 | Rocket Mortgage | 1,163 | 8.5% |
| 3 | Valley Strong Credit Union | 502 | 3.7% |
| 4 | Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc. | 450 | 3.3% |
| 5 | Peoples Mortgage Company | 419 | 3.1% |
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) 2024. County FIPS codes per U.S. Census Bureau standards.
Data from FFIEC / CFPB HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (2024). Provided for informational purposes only; does not constitute financial advice for Kern County borrowers.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainLender is rendered directly from CFPB HMDA federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This Kern County page draws directly on CFPB HMDA federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-10. HMDA figures are lender-filed application outcomes for a published reporting year - not creditworthiness scores, rate quotes, Loan Estimates, underwriting decisions, or mortgage advice.