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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Philadelphia, PA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Philadelphia profile


Living in Philadelphia



Philadelphia is a very large city located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 1,573,916 people and 409 associated neighborhoods, Philadelphia is the largest community in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Also of interest is that Philadelphia has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.39% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Philadelphia is a popular destination for single career-starters. One thing that you will notice when you are out and about town is that there is a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters out at restaurants, listening to live music, and enjoying other activities. They are a real visible part of the culture of Philadelphia. This makes Philadelphia a good place to live for young professionals. With so many people in this demographic, Philadelphia presents many opportunities for single professionals to enjoy themselves, socialize, and to create lasting relationships.

In Philadelphia, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.37 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

Philadelphia is a big city, and with that comes lots of benefits. One benefit is that most big cities have public transit, but Philadelphia really shines when it comes to the extensiveness and use of its public transit system. More than most large American cities, Philadelphia citizens use public transit daily to get to and from work. And while there are transportation options, most people in Philadelphia ride the bus. Whereas in some cities one is destined to sit in traffic every morning to get to work and every evening to get home, in Philadelphia a lot leave their cars at home (if they even choose to own one), and hop a ride on the bus.

The education level of Philadelphia citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 35.40% of adults in Philadelphia have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Philadelphia in 2022 was $38,905, which is upper middle income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $155,620 for a family of four. However, Philadelphia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Philadelphia is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Philadelphia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Philadelphia residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Philadelphia also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 15.57% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Philadelphia include Irish, German, Italian, English, and Polish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Philadelphia's cultural character, accounting for 15.17% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Philadelphia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.