Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pasadena grades D overall, 562nd of 640 graded towns in Texas, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, including 645 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 78% of the country. One bright spot: it has 24 miles of trail. 11% of the land in Pasadena is conserved, above both the Texas town median (1.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Pasadena's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Pasadena is home to San Jacinto Community College.
Where Pasadena beats most towns.
2 colleges in town.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Texas), ordered by how far Pasadena is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,647 in 1930, 151,950 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1979 and 5 maps from 1915 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pasadena. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaDaikin Park
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaReliant Stadium
8 mi LandmarkSan Jacinto Monument
14 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Center
16 mi MuseumRothko Chapel
13 mi Stadium & arenaTDECU StadiumDaikin Park: Delaywaves, CC BY 3.0 · Reliant Stadium: User eschipul on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · San Jacinto Monument: Tijuana Brass at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Toyota Center: Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Rothko Chapel: Unknown, Public domain · TDECU Stadium: Brian Reading, CC BY-SA 4.0
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 has homes that are cheap against local pay, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Houston and other neighbors.
Reported crimes fell from 4,957 to 3,276 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
At 4.3 per 1,000 residents, Pasadena’s violent crime rate is where Texas’ towns sit at 1.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Pasadena’s property crime rate is 17.6 per 1,000 residents. Pasadena reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
| Pasadena | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.6 per 1,000 residents | 10.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Pasadena ISD. Three of its 52 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bondy IntLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 933 | B+ |
| Pasadena Memorial H SLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,177 | A |
| Fairmont J HTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 676 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within TX on state tests and graduation
The biggest place to walk is Armand Bayou Nature Center, 843 acres with 7.7 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Armand Bayou Nature Center | 7.7 mi | 843 |
| 2. Partnership Park | 1.4 mi | 32 |
| 3. Crenshaw Park | 1.2 mi | 76 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
32% of Pasadena adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Pasadena beats the Texas average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 29% of Pasadena adults worry about having enough food.
| Pasadena | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 18% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 20% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 74% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 19% |
| What stands out | Pasadena | TX |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 32.1% | 19.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.6 years of the Houston metro’s $82K median household income, the typical home (about $215K) costs less against local pay than in 81% of Texas towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Pasadena home is worth about $215,000, down 1.9% in a year, 27% below the Texas typical home. 55% of households own their home in Pasadena.
| Pasadena | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 69% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 50% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5,531 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 520 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 5,531 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pasadena.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 44.9°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.9°.
Pasadena has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Pasadena is 45°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Pasadena | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 45°F | 37°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 95°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Pasadena has about as many jobs (64,835) as working residents, but only 9,637 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Pasadena for work: only 17% work in town. Since 2013, Pasadena has added 7,547 jobs, to 64,835 in 2023. The top destinations are Houston (40%), Deer Park (5%) and La Porte (3%).
| Pasadena | Texas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.9% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
10 within 15 miles of the center of Pasadena
About 6 of every 100 Pasadena residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Texas.
11.4% of the town is conserved land, across 31 parks and preserves.
22 notable people were born in Pasadena.
City in Texas, United States
Pasadena ( PASS-ə-DEE-nə) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Harris County. It is part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the 23rd most populous city in Texas and the second most populous in Harris County, after Houston. The area was founded in 1893 by John H. Burnett of Galveston, who named the area after Pasadena, California, because of the perceived lush vegetation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Pasadena.
Nassau Bay next door grades higher for schools (A− to Pasadena’s C) and lower for cost of living (D to C+).
| Town | TX rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasadena | #562 | D | C+ | D | C | C− |
| Houston | #606 | D− | C− | D− | C− | C+ |
| Taylor Lake Village | #7 | A | C | — | A− | A |
| Deer Park | #158 | B− | C | B− | B | B+ |
| La Porte | #300 | C | C | B | B− | B− |
| Seabrook | #181 | B− | D | B− | A− | A |
| South Houston | #603 | D− | B− | D | C | D |
| Nassau Bay | #126 | B | D | C+ | A− | A− |
Taylor Lake Village reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Pasadena with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pasadena grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #562 of 640 in Texas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($82,168 across the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
22 notable people were born here, including Thomas Walkup and Russell Harvard.
