The city's level of ozone, smog's primary component, exceeded the EPA's acceptable limits on an average of 73 days per year between 2004 and 2006.

[8] The city was named after Arvin Richardson, who was the son of one of the original settling families from San Bernardino.

Birdie Heard petitioned for the addition of the post office in 1914 and submitted proposed names, including Bear Mountain, Walnut, and Arvin.

She initially set up the post office in her living room, but it was later moved to the general store owned by the Staples family.

[10] The Mountain View Oil Field, which underlies the town and much of the surrounding area, was discovered in 1933 and developed extensively in the 1930s.

Many oil wells still surround the town; some are slant-drilled to reach formations directly underneath inhabited areas.

The city was nearly destroyed on July 21, 1952, during the M7.3 Kern County earthquake (a rupture of the White Wolf Fault).

The Arvin Migratory Labor Camp was the first federally operated farm labor camp opened by the Farm Security Administration in 1937, one of many New Deal programs created during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt to respond to the Great Depression.

[12] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 square miles (13 km2), all of it land.

The economy of Arvin is primarily based on agriculture, and as such the employment statistics show seasonal variation.

In March 2011, 41.9 percent of Arvin's residents were out of work, the highest of any city in Kern County.

[20] Companies must be licensed by the local agency and the state to grow, test, or sell cannabis and each city or county may authorize none or only some of these activities.

Local governments may not prohibit adults who are in compliance with state laws from growing, using, or transporting marijuana for personal use.

It operates Arvin High School, which also services students from the surrounding rural areas and the nearby town of Lamont.

In January 2008, the city purchased six hybrid police vehicles with a grant by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

[21] The city also purchased six hybrid SUVs in December 2008 with a grant by the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality District.