Suburb overview
Pasadena is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,073, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 8 km from the Adelaide CBD, Pasadena is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $71,812 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
5042
Postcode for Pasadena, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
3,073
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$525/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
8 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$1,620,000
Median house sale price — as at Q1 2026, Valuer-General (SA) (CC BY 4.0). Figure covers suburb (metro Adelaide).
Indicative gross yield
1.7%
Estimated as current median rent × 52 ÷ current median house price. A guide only — not a guaranteed return; excludes costs, vacancy and buying expenses.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,733/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
63% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Pasadena
- Close to Adelaide — roughly 8 km from the CBD, ideal for city workers.
- Established streets, local shops, and schools within the neighbourhood.
Who Pasadena suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Short distance to the CBD makes commuting straightforward.
- Established middle-ring position between the CBD and the urban fringe.
Cons
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
- Prices may rise further as demand continues.
Investment insight
3,073 residents places Pasadena squarely in the middle of the South Australia suburb size distribution (state median 3,699), with market depth comparable to most SA localities. Household income of $71,812/year is 11% below the South Australia median of $80,964, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median rent of $525/week (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)) equates to roughly $2,275/month — about 131% of the $1,733/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. At 8 km from the Adelaide CBD, Pasadena sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks.
Investment tip
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 24% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Pasadena vs South Australia median
How Pasadena stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Pasadena sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Pasadena | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,073 | 3,699 | -17% |
| Median household income | $71,812/yr | $80,964/yr | -11% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $333 | $320 | +4% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,733 | $1,616 | +7% |
| Distance to CBD | 8 km | 13 km | -38% |
| Separate houses | 63% | 73% | -10pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Pasadena — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 3,073 residents — 83% of the SA suburb median (3,699).
- Purchasing power: median household income $71,812/year (-11% vs South Australia suburb median of $80,964).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $333/week rent (≈ $1,443/month) covered ~83% of the $1,733/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 8 km straight-line from Adelaide (state suburb median 13 km).
- Dwelling mix: 63% separate houses — mixed market (vs 73% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$173/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,733/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 24% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Pasadena's 3,073-person market and $71,812 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $333/week covered 83% of a $1,733/month mortgage, a $290/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
Only 63% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% SA median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,733/month median mortgage in Pasadena means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $173/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 3,073 residents, Pasadena has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Pasadena regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Pasadena with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Pasadena property
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Start your journey near Pasadena →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Pasadena are modest for 2026 — incomes 11% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 3,073 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~83% of the typical mortgage ($1,443/month rent vs $1,733/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Pasadena is balanced heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the South Australia median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pasadena a good suburb for investment?
Whether Pasadena suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 3,073, a median household income of $71,812/year and median weekly rent of $333. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Pasadena?
The main demand drivers in Pasadena are proximity to Adelaide (8 km), a median household income of $71,812/year, a dwelling mix that is 63% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Pasadena?
Pasadena has a usual resident population of approximately 3,073, compared with a South Australia suburb median of 3,699 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
How far is Pasadena from the Adelaide CBD?
Pasadena sits 8 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Adelaide employment nodes.
What is the median rent in Pasadena?
The median weekly rent in Pasadena is $525 (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)), equating to approximately $27,300/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Pasadena?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Pasadena is $1,733, or approximately $20,796/year (vs $1,616/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
Is Pasadena cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $333 works out to $1,443/month, covering 83% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month. That leaves a $290/month shortfall (around $3,480/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Pasadena?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,073 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,733 median mortgage, the broader South Australia market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Pasadena profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Consumer & Business Services (SA) (Jan–Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. The median sale price shown comes from Valuer-General (SA) (Q1 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.