Pasadena vs Torrance

A side-by-side comparison of Pasadena and Torrance: population, income, housing, and more.

Pasadena and Torrance are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Torrance has the higher population (143,499 vs 136,462 in Pasadena). Torrance has the higher median household income ($113,105 vs $103,778 in Pasadena). Pasadena has the higher median home value ($1,045,000 vs $1,036,600 in Torrance).

Population, income & housing

	Pasadena	Torrance
Population	136,462	143,499
Median age	40.1 yrs	43.1 yrs
Median household income	$103,778	$113,105
Median home value	$1,045,000	$1,036,600
Median gross rent	$2,218	$2,214
Housing units	62,853	59,411
Homeownership rate	42.1%	54.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	56.0%	53.0%
Unemployment rate	5.3%	5.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Pasadena	Torrance
Population	141,258 → 136,462 (-3.4%)	145,492 → 143,499 (-1.4%)
Median household income	$83,068 → $103,778 (+24.9%)	$93,492 → $113,105 (+21.0%)
Median home value	$785,700 → $1,045,000 (+33.0%)	$762,700 → $1,036,600 (+35.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,710 → $2,218 (+29.7%)	$1,736 → $2,214 (+27.5%)

Pasadena

Population

141,258136,462

Median household income

$83,068$103,778

Median home value

$785,700$1,045,000

Median gross rent

$1,710$2,218

Torrance

Population

145,492143,499

Median household income

$93,492$113,105

Median home value

$762,700$1,036,600

Median gross rent

$1,736$2,214

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Pasadena	Torrance
Under 5	4.8%	4.8%
5 to 17	11.5%	15.9%
18 to 24	7.0%	6.1%
25 to 34	18.3%	11.9%
35 to 44	15.5%	13.8%
45 to 54	13.6%	14.6%
55 to 64	12.3%	14.6%
65 to 74	9.0%	10.2%
75 and over	8.1%	8.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Pasadena	Torrance
White (non-Hispanic)	35.2%	32.2%
Black or African American	7.4%	3.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	17.4%	38.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	5.1%	6.1%
Hispanic or Latino	34.1%	19.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Pasadena	Torrance
No high school diploma	9.9%	5.1%
High school graduate	13.1%	17.1%
Some college or associate's	21.0%	24.9%
Bachelor's degree	30.0%	34.2%
Graduate or professional degree	26.0%	18.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Pasadena	Torrance
Drove alone	58.7%	71.1%
Carpooled	4.7%	6.2%
Public transit	4.1%	1.1%
Walked	4.7%	1.0%
Bicycle	1.1%	0.4%
Worked from home	23.6%	18.5%
Other means	3.0%	1.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Pasadena	Torrance
1-unit, detached	42.5%	53.1%
1-unit, attached	6.1%	6.7%
2 to 4 units	7.5%	6.5%
5 to 19 units	17.4%	8.8%
20 or more units	26.5%	23.1%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	1.9%

Poverty & households

	Pasadena	Torrance
Poverty rate	13.2%	6.9%
Average household size	2.30	2.56
Mean commute (minutes)	27	27
Median year structure built	1960	1963