Photo: thisisbossi from Washington, DC, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Pasadena earn more than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Pasadena itself; outside it, Baltimore draws the most (14%, 10 miles). 5.7% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 9.4% for Maryland as a whole. Jobs and income earn Pasadena A+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Pasadena
Why Pasadena gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pasadena is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #25 of 261 in Maryland. Household income is its strongest input ($129,727, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pasadena could be anywhere from A to A+.
Where Pasadena goes to work
Where Pasadena clocks in
14% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How many people are in Pasadena by day
On a workday 14,358 residents head out to work, 507 work right here, and 6,386 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Pasadena on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.46 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Pasadena’s employers do
6,893 jobs are based in Pasadena.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pasadena, 2013 → 2023: 6,797 → 6,893. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pasadena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Pasadena’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pasadena workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,171 commuters (the 21% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Pasadena
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Pasadena is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pasadena is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #213 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.0% across Maryland.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 20,343 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 35% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.2% of Pasadena households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Pasadena’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pasadena is 46th among 1,255 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Severna Park MD | 40,228 | $170K | 2.8% | 2.7% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | North Laurel MD | 25,563 | $123K | 4.7% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | New Lenox Township IL | 45,290 | $133K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 45 | Arnold MD | 24,303 | $142K | 3.1% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| 46 | Pasadena MD | 34,309 | $130K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 47 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| 48 | Oswego IL | 39,948 | $124K | 2.6% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Potomac MD | 45,902 | $237K | 3.9% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pasadena, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
The towns next door employ 24% of Pasadena
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pasadena workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasadena | – | A+ | B− | 32 min | $129,727 |
| Severna Park | 3% | A+ | A− | 28 min | $169,953 |
| Riviera Beach | under 3% | A | B− | 30 min | $112,672 |
| Glen Burnie | 7% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $88,280 |
| Lake Shore | under 3% | A | C | 31 min | $130,689 |
| Baltimore | 14% | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $62,177 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Baltimore. Darker towns draw more of Pasadena’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Pasadena: questions
What is the median household income in Pasadena?
$129,727 (±$9,324) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pasadena?
5.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pasadena?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pasadena work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (14%, 10 mi), Glen Burnie (7%, 2 mi), Parole (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pasadena walkable?
Pasadena is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pasadena without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pasadena, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pasadena
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.