Pasadena

The short version

Median price

$1.20M

ZIP codes

91104, 91105, 91106, 91107

Region

San Gabriel Valley

County

Los Angeles County

Schools covered

5 rated

Median sale price, three months ending May 2026 (Redfin; Zillow index ~$1.21M), down ~1.7% YoY; downtown condos trade well below the median, San Rafael and Madison Heights single-family homes well above it.

About Pasadena

Pasadena sits at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains about ten miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles — an independent city with its own school district and one of Southern California's deepest architectural pedigrees. This is the home of the Gamble House, Greene and Greene's 1908-09 American Craftsman masterpiece, and whole districts of preserved bungalows, alongside Caltech's campus and the 1927 Beaux-Arts City Hall. Old Pasadena, centered on Colorado Boulevard and Fair Oaks Avenue, anchors a genuinely walkable downtown of restaurants and shops, and the Metro A Line links the city by rail to downtown LA. Housing runs from downtown condos and Playhouse District apartments to Craftsman, Spanish Revival, and Tudor homes on generous lots in Madison Heights, Bungalow Heaven, and San Rafael. The January 2025 Eaton Fire devastated neighboring Altadena and touched Pasadena's northern edge; the slow rebuild there has kept demand for intact, move-in-ready homes across Pasadena notably firm.

Where Locals Actually Eat

Hidden gems and city-specific favorites — no chains.

• Union — Old Pasadena Italian destination where the pasta, bread, and butter are made from scratch.
• Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery — upscale American spot with Midwestern-inspired comfort dishes and an in-house cheese counter.
• Lunasia Signature — modern dim sum with an extensive dumpling selection; relocated in 2026 to a larger room at 865 E Colorado Blvd.
• Osawa — Japanese restaurant serving shabu shabu, sushi, and sukiyaki.
• Old Sasoon Bakery — decades-old Armenian bakery on N. Allen Ave known for lahmajoune, za’atar maneish, and fresh-baked breads.
• Howlin' Ray's — the Nashville hot chicken favorite’s Pasadena outpost, with its own parking.

Just Opened

New to Pasadena — restaurants, businesses, and entertainment that weren't here last year.

• The Daily Catch — the Boston seafood institution’s first West Coast location, open at 927 E Colorado Blvd since July 2026.
• Milk Brew — coffee shop specializing in milk brew, open at 263 E Colorado Blvd since August 2026.

Openings verified as of September 2026.

Top-Rated Schools

• Marshall Fundamental School — PUSD 6-12 in the top quartile of California high schools with a graduation rate near 99%.
• Blair High School — PUSD 6-12 and an International Baccalaureate World School.
• McKinley School — K-8 span school in the Pasadena Unified system.
• Polytechnic School — private K-12 founded 1907 on a 15-acre campus opposite Caltech.
• Westridge School — private girls 4-12 founded 1913, ~550 students.

Fun Places & Local Character

• Rose Bowl Stadium & Flea Market — the historic stadium hosts the famous second-Sunday flea market with 2,500+ vendors.
• Norton Simon Museum — world-class European and Asian art collection at the edge of Old Pasadena.
• The Huntington — library, art museum, and 130 acres of botanical gardens minutes away in adjacent San Marino.
• Gamble House — Greene and Greene’s 1908-09 National Historic Landmark, the icon of American Craftsman architecture.
• Kidspace Children’s Museum — 3.5 acres and 40+ hands-on exhibits next to the Rose Bowl in the Arroyo Seco.

What's Coming & What to Watch

Metro A Line extension (opened September 2025) — the four-station extension to Pomona made the A Line the world’s longest light-rail line, reinforcing values for condos and homes within walking distance of Memorial Park, Lake, and Allen stations.

710 stub 'Reconnecting Pasadena' plan — the City Council adopted the vision plan in April 2026 and approved its restorative-justice provisions in June: a new street grid, 1,800+ homes, and greenways across the ~50-acre former freeway ditch at the western edge of downtown. Funding and detailed planning come next, so this stays a decade-scale supply and amenity story.

Eaton Fire rebuild lag next door — the rebuild next door is slow: as of early October 2026, county permitting data showed just under 200 of the nearly 7,000 housing units destroyed in the Eaton Fire fully rebuilt — under 3%. Thousands of displaced households remain in the market, keeping demand pressure on Pasadena’s intact housing stock, especially the northern ZIPs.