Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 135,804, Pasadena does unevenly: it grades C, 421st among California's 841 graded towns. It is healthier than 82% of U.S. towns and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: the typical home is worth about $1.2 million, 12.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Pasadena’s typical home value is $1,187,000, where California’s towns sit at $709,000 and U.S. towns at $332,000. Its National Register listings include Gamble House and Hale Solar Laboratory. Pasadena's crime rate is higher than 87% of U.S. towns, with 575 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025.
Where Pasadena beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Gamble House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Pasadena City College | 17,485 |
| California Institute of Technology | 2,463 |
| Art Center College of Design | 2,339 |
Gamble House is one of 3 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 124 National Register listings are more than in 99% of California towns with a listing.
Census counts: 391 in 1880, 138,699 in 2020. The archive holds 36 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Pasadena is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pasadena. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw13 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw27 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaDodger StadiumHollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · SoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dodger Stadium: Frederick Dennstedt from los angeles, usa, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pasadena, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Pasadena.
Pasadena draws workers from Los Angeles and beyond and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
40 miles of trail in 32 parks and preserves. The trail density in Pasadena is 1.7 miles per square mile. Upper Arroyo Seco, at 618 acres with 5.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hahamongna Watershed Natural Park | 7.5 mi | 287 |
| 2. Upper Arroyo Seco | 5.7 mi | 618 |
| 3. Lower Arroyo Park | 4.9 mi | 90 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Pasadena Unified school district. Three of its 52 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longfellow (Henry W.) ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 546 | – |
| Options For Youth - Duarte IncLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 3,369 | – |
| Pasadena HighTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,303 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
100,504 jobs are based in Pasadena, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 27.6% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
About one in 5 of Pasadena’s working residents works in town. 28% of workers work from home in Pasadena. Since 2013, Pasadena has added 5,469 jobs, to 100,504 in 2023.
| Pasadena | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 28% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 12.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.19M) costs more against local pay than in 88% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
Pasadena’s median rent is $2,265 a month. The typical Pasadena home is worth about $1,187,000, up 0.7% in a year, 56% above the California typical home. 43% of Pasadena households own their home.
| Pasadena | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,265 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes fell from 4,129 to 3,731 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Pasadena reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
| Pasadena | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.1 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Since 1978, 31 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pasadena.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Pasadena beats the California average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Pasadena | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 29% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 11% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Pasadena | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.2% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 46.2°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 87.9°.
Pasadena has warm winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Pasadena | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 46°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
50 within 15 miles of the center of Pasadena
About 8 of every 100 Pasadena residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
9 colleges in town.
124 places in Pasadena on the National Register of Historic Places.
28 notable people were born in Pasadena.
City in California, United States
Pasadena ( PASS-ə-DEE-nə) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its population was 138,699 at the 2020 census, making it the 45th-largest city in California and the ninth-largest in Los Angeles County. Pasadena was incorporated on June 19, 1886, 36 years after the city of Los Angeles but still one of the first in what is now Los Angeles County. Pasadena hosts the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade each New Year's Day.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Pasadena.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasadena | #421 | C | D− | D | B | A− |
| La Cañada Flintridge | #64 | A− | D− | B− | A+ | A+ |
| Altadena | #205 | B− | D− | — | B | A− |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
| San Marino | #46 | A− | D− | B | A+ | A+ |
| San Pasqual | — | — | D− | — | B | A+ |
| East Pasadena | #155 | B | D− | — | B | A |
| South Pasadena | #120 | B | D− | C− | A+ | A+ |
San Pasqual has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Altadena, San Pasqual and East Pasadena report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Pasadena with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pasadena grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #421 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health, D for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
28 notable people were born here, including Sally Field and Julia Child.
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