It lies about 10 kilometres (6 miles) southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city.

The area of the city covers 32.9 square kilometres (12.7 sq mi), being the 10th largest in Łódź Voivodeship.

Pabianice has seen major infrastructural changes over the past few years amidst increased investment and economic growth.

Public transport in Pabianice includes buses, trams (streetcars), as of 2013[update] commuter railway Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna and regional rail PKP Przewozy Regionalne.

[3] In 1555, Polish King Sigismund II Augustus issued a privilege, which established craft guilds in Pabianice.

[4] Before World War II, Pabianice had a substantial Jewish population, comprising about a quarter of all residents of the town.

[5] Local Polish teachers and activists were murdered by the Germans during large massacres in the nearby Łagiewniki forest (within today's city limits of Łódź) in November and December 1939.

According to source data from October 2011[11] average unemployment rate in Pabianice is on the level of 15,6% Centrum, Bugaj, Piaski, Stare Miasto, Karniszewice, Klimkowizna, Jutrzkowice, Wola Zaradzyńska Nowa, J. Salwy, Marii Konopnickiej, Jana Pawła II, Mikołaja Kopernika, Dąbrowa, Rypułtowice, Czyryczyn (formerly Sereczyn), Karolew, Zatorze.