The percentage of Philadelphians with a bachelor's degree is at an all-time high, but that isn't necessarily reflected in their wages. Despite modest increases, median household incomes in Philadelphia remain well below national averages and figures recorded in comparable cities.
These trends are reflected in a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts, which has put out an annual "state of the city" report on Philly for 16 years. Drawing on data from the U.S. Census, the nonprofit found the percentage of city residents 25 and older with at least a bachelor's degree hit 36.3% – "the highest percentage ever recorded" – in 2022. The gains were even more pronounced among millennials and Generation Z. More than half of those 25 to 34 had obtained a bachelor's degree.
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Wages, however, have increased only modestly. The median household income in Philadelphia grew by 7% between 2021 and 2022 to $56,517. That sum placed Philly ahead of Baltimore ($55,198) for the first time since Pew began publishing these reports. But Philly's median household income was still well below the national average of $74,755. It also tracked below Phoenix, a city of similar size, and Pittsburgh, a city with a much smaller population.
Pew noted that "substantial" racial disparities persist when it comes to income. White households brought home the most money, with a median of $81,968, while Black and Hispanic households earned about half that sum — or $42,747 and $42,654, respectively.
"The trends that have given
the city a sense of dynamism in recent years — including its increasingly well-educated and diverse population—
show no signs of weakening," the report reads. "But Philadelphia's persistent problems remain as well, threatening to undermine any
sense of progress."
Those problems are not limited to income or the poverty rate, which declined to 21.7% under pandemic-era federal assistance programs. Pew highlighted the city's 70% rise in car thefts between 2022 and 2023 and increasing deaths from drug overdoses. Current estimates place the number of unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2023 at 1,300. Though that figure has not yet been confirmed, it would mark the seventh year in a row that overdose deaths have exceeded 1,100 in Philadelphia. It also would be second-highest number on record, after the 1,413 deaths in 2022.
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