Philadelphia Research and Policy

Pew seeks to inform discussions on important issues facing the city and the region and to provide policymakers and other decision-makers with data, analysis, and examples of promising practices that may help them address key challenges.

We regularly release reports that often offer comparisons with other major U.S. cities, and we conduct polling to determine Philadelphians’ views on policy issues, elected officials, and various aspects of life in the city.

We also combine our local capacity with our state- and national-level expertise to convene city and regional stakeholders with experts and officials from around the country to discuss effective, evidence-based solutions being implemented in other jurisdictions and the impacts of those reforms.

Recent Work

A child wearing a colorful owl backpack and an adult pushing a stroller walk past a storefront on a tree-lined city street on a fall day.
Philadelphians Cite Safety and Finances as Top Concerns

Philadelphians’ views of their city have improved dramatically since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, despite lingering concern about public safety and personal finances. In a Pew survey conducted from January to March 2025, nearly two-thirds of respondents cited crime as the top issue facing the city. Half of those surveyed reported hearing gunshots in their neighborhood in the previous year.

Equity in Philadelphia’s Capital Budgeting

When Philadelphians talk about their local government, the conversations often involve places where the city provides services to residents—facilities such as the parks, libraries, fire stations, and city office buildings that Philadelphia creates, maintains, and improves with funding from its capital budget.

Philadelphia 2025: The State of The City

As 2025 began, Philadelphia appeared to be entering a new and different phase after years of pandemic-related reverberations. The question is which effects from the past few years will turn out to have been temporary and which will prove more enduring. The answers are beginning to come into sharper focus.

A person with dark hair in blue scrubs stands at a computer monitor working on a light-colored keyboard.
Nonprofit Sector Is Vital Piece of Philadelphia's Economy

Nonprofit organizations play a critical role in Philadelphia and represent a major source of area employment. They accounted for 30% of the city’s private sector jobs in 2022, according to federal data. City residents rely on these organizations to provide critical services to Philadelphia’s communities.

City skyline
Philadelphia's Fiscal Future

Philadelphia’s economy was performing well in the decade before the pandemic—matching and, in some years, outperforming the nation in job generation. But COVID-19 halted that progress, and the city’s recovery has lagged that of the national economy. That’s especially troubling given that Philadelphia’s pre-pandemic job growth did not extend to workers of color in the city.

Build Communities Philadelphia's Immigrants

A series on the traits and impact of a growing population

Media Contact

Elizabeth Lowe

Manager, Communications

215.575.4812