Northwest SGV · Los Angeles County · Verified May 2026
Pasadena, California
Crown of the SGV · Caltech & the Rose Bowl · Historic architecture
Pasadena is the cultural and architectural anchor of the western San Gabriel Valley — Caltech, the Rose Bowl, Old Pasadena, and one of California's deepest stocks of Craftsman and historic-revival homes. March 2026 closed sales reached a median of $1,300,000, up 0.4% year-over-year per Redfin, while Zillow's smoothed Home Value Index reads $1,079,655 (-1.6% YoY). It is a large, layered market where the price gap between a landmark historic home and a standard condo is wider than almost anywhere in the SGV.
Median Sale Price
$1.3M
March 2026 · +0.4% YoY
Source: Redfin
Zillow Home Value Index
$1.08M
-1.6% YoY · smoothed value
Source: Zillow ZHVI
Median $ / Sq Ft
$844
+6.4% YoY
Source: Redfin
Days on Market
~32
About 4 offers per home
Source: Redfin
School District
Pasadena Unified School District
Pasadena Unified serves roughly 14,000 students across Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre, and holds a Niche B+ grade (#191 of California districts). School quality varies meaningfully by campus — confirming the assigned school for a specific address is essential. Pasadena's deep roster of private and independent schools also draws families, which softens the public school zone's pricing weight relative to the eastern SGV.
Pasadena High School
Grades 9–12 · Public
Pasadena Unified's highest-rated comprehensive high school, performing above the California average, with AP coursework and magnet pathways. The strongest of the district's public secondary options.
Source: GreatSchools
Pasadena Unified — by campus
Grades K–12 · Public
District-wide performance is uneven: campuses range from above-average (Pasadena High at 8/10) to below-average (John Muir High at 4/10). Pull the assigned school for the exact address — in Pasadena, the campus matters more than the district label.
Source: Niche · GreatSchools
Private & Independent Schools
Grades K–12 · Independent
Pasadena has an unusually deep roster of private and independent schools. Many families choose them, which means the public attendance zone carries less of a home-price premium here than in Arcadia or San Marino.
Source: Market observation · neighborhood profiles
Who Lives Here
Demographics & community
Population
~137,000
139,373 at 2020 Census · 2024 estimate
Median Household Income
$105,192
2024 estimate
Median Property Value
$1.09M
2024 · +4.6% YoY
Homeownership Rate
42.5%
Renter-heavy for the SGV
Median Age
40.1
Established, professional demographic
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau · Data USA · California-demographics.com
Annie’s Market Read
What the Pasadena data doesn’t tell you
Pasadena is not one market — it is a dozen. A landmark Craftsman in the Bungalow Heaven or Prospect historic districts, a contemporary near the Caltech corridor, and a condo near the 210 are three completely different transactions. The blended median of $1.3M tells you almost nothing about the home you actually want; the neighborhood and the architecture do.
The historic-district premium is real and durable. Pasadena protects its landmark neighborhoods through Landmark District designations, and architecturally significant homes — especially intact Greene & Greene-era Craftsman — trade as collectibles. I always check whether a home sits inside a designated district, because it affects both value and what an owner can change.
For buyers, the Redfin median (+0.4%) and the Zillow index (-1.6%) sending mixed signals is normal for a market this large and varied — it reflects which segments are trading, not a clear direction. I read Pasadena by neighborhood and price tier, never by the citywide number.
— Annie Liu Williams · DRE# 02147335
Lifestyle Anchors
Why people buy in Pasadena
The Rose Bowl
The 1922 National Historic Landmark stadium — the Rose Bowl Game, UCLA football, and the monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market.
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology anchors a world-class research economy and a steady, highly educated buyer and renter pool.
Old Pasadena
A walkable, well-preserved historic downtown along Colorado Boulevard — dining, retail, and the cultural heart of the city.
Tournament of Roses
The Rose Parade each New Year's Day is Pasadena's defining civic tradition and a global identity.
Craftsman Architecture
One of California's richest stocks of Craftsman and historic-revival homes — the Gamble House and the Bungalow Heaven district are national draws.
210 / 134 / 110 + Metro A Line
Exceptional connectivity — three freeways plus the Metro A Line into downtown Los Angeles and out to the eastern SGV.
Market Read · Q2 2026
Where Pasadena is going next
Pasadena enters mid-2026 as a steady, segmented market. The roughly flat closed-sale median (+0.4%) against a modestly soft home value index (-1.6%) describes a market in equilibrium — neither the rapid appreciation of 2021–22 nor a meaningful decline.
The +6.4% rise in price per square foot alongside a flat median signals a mix shift toward smaller, higher-quality homes — not a broad devaluation. Pasadena's structural strengths (Caltech, the historic housing stock, the cultural base) keep a firm floor under values.
My read: low-single-digit movement at the citywide median through 2026, with landmark historic homes and the Caltech-adjacent segment outperforming generic condo inventory. The risk to watch is interest rates at the entry-level end, where Pasadena's renter-heavy base is most rate-sensitive.
Sources & Methodology
Every figure on this page is cited
Market figures were cross-referenced against at least two independent data providers before publication. Page last verified May 2026; market figures refresh quarterly, school ratings annually.
Considering Pasadena?
Let’s talk pricing, schools & timing
Annie brings verified market data, attendance-zone maps, an off-market network, and bilingual English / 中文 representation. Every conversation is private and no-pressure.
Vismar Corporation · DRE# 02147335 · English / 中文