Best PlacesSouth Pasadena, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South 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.
South Pasadena ranks 404th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South 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.
South Pasadena's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Pasadena ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 272 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of cities
Where South Pasadena ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in South Pasadena
A household needs to earn about $384,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Pasadena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $142,950, 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 South 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 South Pasadena
South Pasadena's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Pasadena.
Who works in South Pasadena, and how
Work in South Pasadena centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Pasadena
South Pasadena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of South Pasadena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Pasadena, month by month
South Pasadena sees roughly 272 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 South 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 South Pasadena
Schools across South Pasadena average an A−, better than 73% of cities.
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Blair HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Pasadena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South 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 South Pasadena against the other 2,097 cities.
Who South Pasadena suits
Retirees
The weather beats 97% of cities and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in South Pasadena
Is South Pasadena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Pasadena ranks 404th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, big-city access, and an educated workforce, 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 South Pasadena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,484,236. The overall cost of living runs about 66% above the national average. Set against a $142,950 median income, cost of living beats 41% of cities.
Is South Pasadena safe?
South Pasadena is safer than 31% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Pasadena?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 48. That works out to about 272 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of cities.
Is South Pasadena good for families?
Schools beat 73% of cities, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare South Pasadena with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Pasadena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South 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.
South Pasadena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Pasadena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Pasadena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Pasadena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Pasadena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South 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.