Best PlacesMadison Heights, Pasadena, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Madison Heights, Pasadena, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Madison Heights, Pasadena ranks 1,503rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Madison Heights, Pasadena
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Madison Heights, Pasadena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madison Heights, Pasadena ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 276 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
Where Madison Heights, Pasadena ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Madison Heights, Pasadena
A household needs to earn about $240,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison Heights, Pasadena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $115,596, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Madison Heights, Pasadena's effective rate of 0.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Madison Heights, Pasadena
Madison Heights, Pasadena's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Madison Heights, Pasadena.
Who works in Madison Heights, Pasadena, and how
Work in Madison Heights, Pasadena centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Madison Heights, Pasadena
Madison Heights, Pasadena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 22 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Madison Heights, Pasadena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Madison Heights, Pasadena, month by month
Madison Heights, Pasadena sees roughly 276 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Madison Heights, Pasadena
Bob Hope sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.1 million passengers in 2025, with 54 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Madison Heights, Pasadena
Schools across Madison Heights, Pasadena average a C, better than 43% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Blair HighB− · 43% proficient
- Rose City High (continuation)D− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madison Heights, Pasadena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madison Heights, Pasadena measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Madison Heights, Pasadena against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Madison Heights, Pasadena
Is Madison Heights, Pasadena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison Heights, Pasadena ranks 1,503rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, population health, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madison Heights, Pasadena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $926,321. The overall cost of living runs about 52% above the national average. Set against a $115,596 median income, cost of living beats 57% of neighborhoods.
Is Madison Heights, Pasadena safe?
Madison Heights, Pasadena is safer than 44% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $525 per resident a year.
Compare Madison Heights, Pasadena with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison Heights, Pasadena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison Heights, Pasadena represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Madison Heights, Pasadena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison Heights, Pasadena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison Heights, Pasadena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison Heights, Pasadena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison Heights, Pasadena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison Heights, Pasadena detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.