Best PlacesMid Central, Pasadena, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mid Central, 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.
Mid Central, Pasadena ranks 2,744th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mid Central, 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.
Mid Central, Pasadena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mid Central, Pasadena ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 276 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Mid Central, Pasadena ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mid Central, Pasadena
A household needs to earn about $245,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mid Central, Pasadena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,706, 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 Mid Central, Pasadena's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Mid Central, Pasadena
Mid Central, 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 Mid Central, Pasadena.
Who works in Mid Central, Pasadena, and how
Work in Mid Central, Pasadena centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Mid Central, Pasadena
Mid Central, Pasadena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 71% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 24 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mid Central, Pasadena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mid Central, Pasadena, month by month
Mid Central, 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 Mid Central, Pasadena
Bob Hope sits about 15 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 Mid Central, Pasadena
Schools across Mid Central, Pasadena average a C+, better than 53% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Pasadena HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mid Central, Pasadena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mid Central, 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 Mid Central, Pasadena against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mid Central, Pasadena
Is Mid Central, Pasadena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mid Central, Pasadena ranks 2,744th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and low property taxes, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mid Central, Pasadena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $974,697. The overall cost of living runs about 53% above the national average. Set against a $111,706 median income, cost of living beats 42% of neighborhoods.
Is Mid Central, Pasadena safe?
Mid Central, Pasadena is safer than 39% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $559 per resident a year.
Compare Mid Central, Pasadena with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mid Central, Pasadena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mid Central, 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.
Mid Central, Pasadena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mid Central, Pasadena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mid Central, Pasadena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mid Central, Pasadena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mid Central, Pasadena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mid Central, 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.