State
County
Land Area
43.6 sq mi
Density
3,400.5/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
-1.01%
Growth Since 2010
-0.56%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Pasadena is a city located in Texas. With a 2020 population of 148,215, it is the 21st largest city in Texas and the 179th largest city in the United States. Pasadena is currently declining at a rate of -1.01% annually and its population has decreased by -0.56% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 149,043 in 2010. Pasadena reached it's highest population of 154,530 in 2015. Spanning over 45 miles, Pasadena has a population density of 3,401 people per square mile.
The average household income in Pasadena is $71,809 with a poverty rate of 17.00%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $963 per month, and the median house value is $124,200. The median age in Pasadena is 31.6 years, 30.9 years for males, and 32.4 years for females. For every 100 females there are 100.3 males.
Pasadena is located in Harris County, Texas as part of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. Named for Pasadena, California, it's the second largest city in Harris County, and the seventeenth most populous overall in the state of Texas.
Pasadena is a Hispanic-majority city. According to a new Pew Research study (https://patch.com/texas/houstonheights/houstons-undocumented-immigrant-population-tops-575-000-pew-research), it's estimated that there are 1 million undocumented immigrants in Texas with almost 600,000 of them in the Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area, including Pasadena.
Post World War II, Pasadena saw a huge growth in population of just over 20%, from 3,436 in 1940 to 22,483. 1960 saw this rise to 58,737, and this only continued to rise. 50 years later, in 1990, Pasadena saw a more than 3,000% increase from 3,436 to 119,363. After another boom of over 22,000 people in the 2000s, growth has started to slow, and since 2014 has had a year on year decline.
Prior to Europeans settling on the area near Galveston Bay, various native tribes like the Akokisa had inhabited it. Following the declaration of Mexican independence from Spain, Mexico offered land grants to settlers from both Mexico and the United States in order to colonize Texas, its northernmost territory. This brought in a rapid wave of settlement around the Galveston Bay area.
After a coup in the Mexican government in 1835, Texas revolted against Mexico. The last battle of the Texas Revolution took place in 1836, near modern-day Pasadena. Due to this being the final conflict leading to the Mexican surrender, Pasadena has adopted the nickname the “Birthplace of Texas.”
The year 1900 saw The Great Galveston hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in United States history at the time, bring heavy damage to Pasadena, and destroying Galveston completely. Many Galveston refugees moved to Pasadena, and amongst the vast donations from the newly created Red Cross were millions of strawberry plants, leading to Pasadena becoming a major producer of fruit.
The following year saw the beginning of the Texas Oil Boom, and the discovery of an oil field in nearby Goose Creek. This lead to ever petroleum exploration around the area, and by 1917 to 1920, refinery operations had made their way to Pasadena. The onset of World Wars I and II helped spur increased industrial development in the region, and Pasadena surpassed even Houston in terms of growth rate.
Pasadena voted in 1923 to incorporate, however in the following year residents decided to cancel the process. It was not until 5 years later in 1928 that Pasadena finally did incorporate, and as a result of this was not incorporated into Houston when it annexed surrounded unincorporated areas.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Pasadena was:
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 136,638 | 89.10% |
Some Other Race | 4,665 | 3.04% |
Black or African American | 3,908 | 2.55% |
Two or More Races | 3,449 | 2.25% |
Asian | 3,056 | 1.99% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 1,601 | 1.04% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 33 | 0.02% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 48,019 | 3.17 | 53.5 |
Married | 24,081 | 3.86 | 68.1 |
Non Family | 12,417 | 1.27 | 38.4 |
Female | 7,849 | 3.87 | 36.6 |
Male | 3,672 | 3.6 | 45.5 |
3.74
Average Family Size
3.17
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 13,724 | 14.95% |
9th to 12th Grade | 11,781 | 12.84% |
High School Graduate | 29,586 | 32.23% |
Some College | 17,264 | 18.81% |
Associates Degree | 6,221 | 6.78% |
Bachelors Degree | 9,061 | 9.87% |
Graduate Degree | 4,149 | 4.52% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
Hispanic | 57,253 | 35,281 | 4,186 |
White | 28,733 | 25,979 | 6,980 |
Other Race | 2,927 | 1,714 | 178 |
Asian | 2,552 | 2,166 | 1,372 |
Black | 2,153 | 1,869 | 327 |
Multiple Races | 1,693 | 1,403 | 290 |
Native American | 850 | 649 | 149 |
Islander | 27 | 19 | 19 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among white people with a rate of 90.42%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among islander people with a rate of 70.37%.
$35,178
Average Earnings
$42,864
Average Male
$24,467
Average Female
56.40% of Pasadena residents speak only English, while 43.60% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 41.40% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Hispanic | 107,577 | 20,253 | 18.83% |
White | 36,294 | 3,731 | 10.28% |
Black | 3,707 | 1,250 | 33.72% |
Other | 4,661 | 606 | 13.00% |
Multiple | 3,420 | 447 | 13.07% |
Asian | 3,048 | 422 | 13.85% |
Native | 1,601 | 391 | 24.42% |
17.00%
Overall Poverty Rate
15.02%
Male Poverty Rate
18.98%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Pasadena is Black, with 33.72% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Pasadena is White, with 10.28% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 6.03%. Among those working part-time, it was 17.70%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 20.89%.
46.7%
Overall Marriage Rate
48.7%
Male Marriage Rate
44.8%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 45-54.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 4,788 | 4.99% |
Hispanic | 1,428 | 2.05% |
2 or More | 172 | 8.74% |
Black | 160 | 6.13% |
Other | 77 | 2.28% |
Indian | 26 | 2.38% |
Asian | 23 | 0.87% |
Hawaiian | 19 | 57.58% |
6.54%
Veteran Poverty Rate
29.60%
Veteran Disability Rate
65.3%
Labor Force Participation
59.2%
Employment Rate
9.4%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
73.39%
Native Born
26.61%
Foreign Born
18.02%
Non Citizen
8.59%
Naturalized
73.39% of Pasadena residents were born in the United States, with 59.47% having been born in Texas. 18.02% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 148,215 | -1,506 | -1.01% |
2020 | 149,721 | -1,506 | -1.00% |
2019 | 151,227 | -1,506 | -0.99% |
2018 | 152,733 | -1,125 | -0.73% |
2017 | 153,858 | -667 | -0.43% |
2016 | 154,525 | -5 | -0.00% |
2015 | 154,530 | 83 | 0.05% |
2014 | 154,447 | 915 | 0.60% |
2013 | 153,532 | 870 | 0.57% |
2012 | 152,662 | 1,506 | 1.00% |
2011 | 151,156 | 1,633 | 1.09% |
2010 | 149,523 | 7,849 | 0.54% |
2000 | 141,674 | 22,311 | 1.73% |
1990 | 119,363 | 6,803 | 0.59% |
1980 | 112,560 | 22,603 | 2.27% |
1970 | 89,957 | 31,220 | 4.35% |
1960 | 58,737 | 36,254 | 10.08% |
1950 | 22,483 | 19,047 | 20.66% |
1940 | 3,436 | 0.00% |