What is the cost of living in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 102.6, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 113.1, which is above the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,810/month.

What is the median salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

The median salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington is $74,260 annually (mean: $78,050). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

How safe is Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

The violent crime rate in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is 250 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1457 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

The state of PA has 2,930 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 13:1. About 58.2% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 6% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

Childcare cost data is not currently available for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.

Is Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington a good place to relocate?

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington has a Life Score of 43.5/100 (F), based on 6 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a below-average score, several dimensions likely pull the composite down; compare specific dimensions to see which ones.

Where does Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ranks #279 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

BEA RPP 102.6 ranks #338 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

102.6
Cost index (US=100): $1,810
2BR rent / mo: $74,260
Median salary: 45.3
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ranks #279 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (45.3/100), with its strongest marks in job market and schools.

#279
of 387 US metros · Near median: 13,078,751
metro-area population: 250
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 2,930
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: air quality (12/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ranks #279 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 102.6 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,810/mo, median salary $74,260; LiveAbility Score 45.3/100, strongest in job market and schools.

Signature: BEA RPP 102.6 ranks #338 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP 102.6 lands in the dearer third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,810/mo.

LiveAbility 45.3/100 puts Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington in the bottom third (#279 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area is 2,874,190.

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

45 Top 72% higher than 28% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA; housing RPP 113.1 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,810/mo.

Studio

$1,397

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,520

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,810

/month

3 Bedroom

$2,170

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,423

/month

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington wages and employment

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington posts 2,874,190 total employment with median salary $74,260 against a dearer-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$74,260

Mean Salary

$78,050

Total Employment

2,874,190

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$29,800
Registered Nurses	$101,180
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$32,220
General and Operations Managers	$121,630
Retail Salespersons	$34,810

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area from NCES.

Schools

2,930

Enrollment

1,664,154

Student:Teacher

13:1

Title I %

58.2%

Life Score Breakdown

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington's composite Life Score is 43.5/100 (F), computed across 6 of 7 dimensions (missing dims omitted; remaining weights renormalized).

Cost

13/100

Bottom decile

Wages

86/100

Elite

Rent

14/100

Bottom decile

Crime

69/100

Strong

Schools

17/100

Bottom decile

Environment

53/100

Average

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ranks #279 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 45.3/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Job market (86/100)

Job market

86
Schools

83
Safety

69
Climate

65
Low hazard

33
Housing

14
Cost of living

13
Air quality

12

What this shows Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington's strongest dimensions are job market and schools; its weakest among scored dims is air quality at 12/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington to

Macon-Bibb County Madison Manchester-Nashua Manhattan Mankato Mansfield

Metros near Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

† No air quality reading on file for this metro, so its score is built from fewer than all 8 dimensions: the missing dimension is omitted and the remaining weights renormalized. It is not directly comparable with a full 8-dimension score.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?

On the federal data, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington shows a $74,260 median salary, a 102.6 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #279 of 387.

Run Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington's pay and cost figures against your own budget. Salary calculator
Set Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington beside another metro and read the same dimensions across. Compare Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
Abilene is the nearest related metro in this corpus, and the two are easy to compare. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score can point in different directions; this guide covers how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Read the cost, salary and score figures as federal-data percentiles, not as advice to move.