Center City Insights: Philadelphia Employment

Philadelphia’s talent pool growth outpaces nearly all peer cities; office-sector employers are not keeping pace

Since the pandemic, a familiar story has reigned concerning American downtowns: remote work cut the cord between young professionals and the office, and, once untethered, they followed cheaper space and bigger backyards out to the suburbs. In Philadelphia, the data tells a different tale.

Over the past decade, the number of Philadelphians aged 25 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree or higher grew by more than 51,000, from roughly 101,000 to 152,500. This represents nearly half (49%) of all highly educated talent growth across the eight counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. Today, more than half (52%) of Philadelphians aged 25 to 34 hold a four-year degree, up from 38% a decade ago. Among the home counties of 25 of the nation’s largest cities, only Austin, Denver, and San Jose gained more ground in degree attainment since 2014.

The city is adding jobs too. Since 2009, Philadelphia has added 100,944 private sector jobs, slightly more than Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties combined (100,300).

“Philadelphia is a magnet for talent because of the great quality of life on offer” Center City District President and CEO Prema Katari Gupta said. “Now we need the employers to match. Continued investment in SEPTA and our downtown can make Center City the first choice for companies looking to grow.” 

There is one important caveat. The jobs Philadelphia is adding are overwhelmingly outside the office sector, and the employers that hire college graduates downtown have not grown at the pace of the talent pool itself. Read on to learn how Philadelphia’s talent and job base have changed, where the gap lies, and what it means for employers deciding where to locate and grow.

Below are some take aways from the report.