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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

South Pasadena, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






South Pasadena profile


Living in South Pasadena



South Pasadena is a medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 25,850 people and six associated neighborhoods, South Pasadena is the 272nd largest community in California.

South Pasadena home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but South Pasadena real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Of important note, South Pasadena is also a city of artists. South Pasadena has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape South Pasadena’s character.

Also of interest is that South Pasadena has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 23.48% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

South Pasadena, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

In South Pasadena, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.52 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

For the size of the city, public transportation in South Pasadena is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the subway. For South Pasadena, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in South Pasadena. 71.77% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in South Pasadena in 2018 was $71,865, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $287,460 for a family of four.

South Pasadena is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call South Pasadena home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of South Pasadena residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. South Pasadena also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.16% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in South Pasadena include German, English, Irish, Italian, and French.

In addition, South Pasadena has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (24.56%).

The most common language spoken in South Pasadena is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.