Pasadena is a city located in Harris County Texas. Pasadena has a 2023 population of 143,330. Pasadena is currently declining at a rate of -1.8% annually and its population has decreased by -5.3% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 151,347 in 2020.
The average household income in Pasadena is $77,890 with a poverty rate of 17.91%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to - per month, and the median house value is -. The median age in Pasadena is 31.7 years, 31.2 years for males, and 32.2 years for females.
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:
3.62
Average Family Size
3.1
Average Household Size
53.6%
Rate of Home Ownership
Married
Male
Female
NonFamily
owner
renter
Only English
Spanish
Other Indo-European Languages
Asian and Pacific Island Languages
Other Languages
53.71% of Pasadena residents speak only English, while 46.29% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Spanish, which is spoken by 44.46% of the population.
17.91%
Overall Poverty Rate
15.96%
Male Poverty Rate
19.87%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in Pasadena is Black, with 51.4% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in Pasadena is Asian, with 9.02% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 5.29%. Among those working part-time, it was 19.52%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 22.1%.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
47.7%
Overall Marriage Rate
49.6%
Male Marriage Rate
45.7%
Female Marriage Rate
male
female
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.
Married
Widowed
Divorced
Separated
NeverMarried
Less Than 9th Grade
High School Graduate
Some College
Bachelors or Greater
7.38%
Veteran Poverty Rate
29.44%
Veteran Disability Rate
LaborForceParticipation
67%
Labor Force Participation
60.3%
Employment Rate
10%
Unemployment Rate
LaborForceParticipation
LaborForceParticipation
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
Europe
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Latin America
North America
61.29%
Born in Pasadena
75.71%
Native Born
26.54%
Foreign Born
17.43%
Non Citizen
9.11%
Naturalized
75.71% of Pasadena residents were born in the United States, with 61.29% having been born in Texas. 17.43% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Latin America.