Moving to
Pasadena.

All Pasadena data Compare Pasadena

34,309people live here $129,727median household income▲ 61% above US $2,393median rent per month▲ 69% above US $423,400median home value▲ 27% above US

Pasadena is an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, MD. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Pasadena

Pasadena is an unincorporated community in Maryland with county unemployment below the national average, household incomes running above the national average, a highly educated workforce, and a growing population. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Pasadena deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, and cold winters.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Higher-than-average incomes
Highly educated workforce
Growing population
Average class sizes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Above-average commute times
Cold winters

How Pasadena compares

Median household income

Pasadena$129,727

Maryland avg$103,678

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Pasadena$2,393

Maryland avg$1,705

US$1,413

Median home value

Pasadena$423,400

Maryland avg$419,900

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Pasadena

Based on Pasadena's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,786

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $95,720 a year
49% of Pasadena renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$84,680

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $42,340
Homes cost 3.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 69% above US

$2,393/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,393 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices run above average, with a median around $423,400. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $423,400 · 49% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.4% county unemployment

Unemployment in Anne Arundel County is 3.4%, a little below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Anne Arundel County (county-wide)

Safety

274 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Pasadena doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Anne Arundel County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1691/100k · Policed by Anne Arundel County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 22% above US

32 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 31.6 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 21% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

74%

Work from home

21%

Carpool

4.5%

Other

0.4%

Public transit

0.3%

Walk

0.2%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 87°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 27°F and snow a regular occurrence. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforceNear US average

38% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 38% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

5 public schools inside the boundary

There are 5 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (9 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Pasadena's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and household incomes running above the national average; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,393/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low) and remote workers (21% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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