Local economic impact
Caltech has helped sustain US economic leadership and make Pasadena one of America’s most livable cities.
For more than a century, Caltech and its alumni have spurred discovery and innovation across the region and the world. Today, Pasadena is a destination for the study of life, health, computation, communication, robotics, quantum physics, sustainability, the earth, other worlds, and the cosmos. Caltech inventions and discoveries have been recognized with national and global awards and honors.
Caltech's programs of public and private partnership, educational outreach, and public events put Caltech expertise in the service of local communities. At the same time, these programs amplify researchers' and students' skills and opportunities.
Economic influence
More than 100 Caltech-affiliated companies were founded in the last decade, and the Caltech Seed Fund invests more than $1.5 million per year to help them. Local startups with Caltech founders include Avicena, Elementary Robotics, GuRu Wireless, Idealab, Materia, Miso Robotics, Replenish, Spatial Genomics, Virtualitics, and Xencor. Above: Professor Mory Gharib (PhD '83) (right) and Jason Beith (left) of Foldax with a durable, inexpensive polymer heart valve now in clinical trials.
Caltech makes scientific breakthroughs and pioneers important technologies based on them, sometimes creating new industries. Caltech holds more than 2,000 active US patents. We partner with tech companies, government agencies, research hospitals, and other organizations to invent technologies that change life for the better. Above: Professor Carver Mead (BS '56, PhD '60) and his students in a class that influenced his and Lynn Conway's invention of VLSI (very large scale integration), a foundational information technology.
With 8,000 employees including 5,500 at JPL, Caltech is Pasadena's largest employer. In October 2024, more than half of Caltech's faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars lived in Pasadena. Many others lived in Altadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, San Marino, and La Cañada Flintridge. In 2023, Caltech ranked first among America's best midsize employers (Forbes). Above: Laboratory coordinator and administrator Marta Murphy as well as many of her colleagues have worked at Caltech for decades.
Caltech manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a $2-billion-per-year operation. JPL is a leader in robotic space exploration and our observation of Earth and other planets. Caltech graduate students and friends founded JPL in the 1930s, and Caltech has managed JPL for NASA since 1958. JPL is a top destination for scientists, engineers, and technical administrators.
New construction, renovations, and maintenance are a vital revenue source for businesses. From 2020 through 2024, Caltech spent $398 million on construction and renovation and $45 million on infrastructure and utility maintenance. Caltech’s capital and maintenance expenditures often support local businesses, including architects, general contractors, and tradespeople. The recent construction of the Resnick Sustainability Center brought 100 workers onto campus on any given day. Above: Caltech's Resnick Sustainability Center under construction.
Caltech works with local government and education partners to help local children and adults learn essential and cutting-edge STEM skills. Pasadena's strong schools and colleges help the city attract science and technology businesses. Local students and teachers conduct research in Caltech labs. Caltech experts consult on curricula at the K–12 and college level, and students and researchers tutor, visit schools, and judge competitions. More than 2,000 residents attended Science Journeys field trip events in 2024. Above: Fernando Villafuerte (PhD '24) gives a Science Journeys presentation.
Companies in and beyond Southern California use Caltech's licensed intellectual property, fund research projects in their areas of interest, and build strategic partnerships to develop transformative technologies and attract Caltech graduates to their teams. In FY 2024, 61 companies made gifts, and 44 sponsored research, investing $68 million in Caltech. Above: Caltech and Amazon Web Services created a hub for quantum computing, pictured in the foreground.
Caltech purchased more than $10 million in goods and services for its campus from small businesses in LA, Orange, San Diego, and Inyo counties in FY 2024. JPL also prioritizes small businesses in its purchasing decisions. And larger suppliers with sizable JPL contracts tend to open local offices.
Exceptionally talented students come to Caltech from all over the nation and the world. About 10 percent of them have stayed in or returned to the area after their college years. As of 2025, more than 2,660 graduates live within 10 miles of Caltech (not including those who are staying on as postdoctoral scholars). Above: New students emerge from the 2024 convocation. One in 10 is likely to live in or near Pasadena in the coming years.
