United States · North America
Moving to Philadelphia
Philadelphia quick facts
United States at a glance
North America
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Philadelphia
Can you move to United States?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter United States — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in United States
Status, Social Security number and Pennsylvania ID
There is no post-arrival registration in the US: your I-94 record is your status. In the first weeks you need a Social Security number if work-authorised, or an ITIN if not, because payroll, banking and credit all key off one of them. Pennsylvania gives 60 days for the driver licence — more generous than New York or California, less than Texas.
Read the full step-by-step guideSixty days at PennDOT — and whether you need a car at all
Pennsylvania requires new residents to obtain a PA licence within 60 days of establishing residency — more generous than New York's 30 or California's 10. Pennsylvania does not maintain broad reciprocity with foreign licensing authorities, so most foreign licence holders apply as new drivers: knowledge test, learner's permit, road test. Philadelphia itself has among the highest car insurance premiums in the country, which is a real argument for going without.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a bank account and building US credit from zero
You can open a US account without a Social Security number: federal rules let a bank use your passport number and country of issuance, or an ITIN, as the identifying number. The credit problem is the standard American one — but Philadelphia's low rents and strong transit mean the consequences bite more gently here than in a car-dependent, expensive city.
Read the full step-by-step guidePennie, Medicaid, and one of the densest hospital systems in America
Coverage comes from an employer, from Pennie, or from Pennsylvania Medicaid if your income qualifies. Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid, so unlike Texas, Florida and Georgia there is no coverage gap below the subsidy floor. Philadelphia's advantage is provider density: Penn, Jefferson, Temple and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia mean world-class academic medicine within a few miles of most of the city.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a US phone number with no credit history
The US has no SIM registration requirement, so getting connected is trivially easy: buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM and it works immediately. The friction is postpaid contracts, which run a credit check you cannot pass on arrival — prepaid avoids it and usually costs less. Comcast is headquartered here, which makes home internet unusually monopolistic.
Read the full step-by-step guideThe lowest state rate here, and a city Wage Tax on top
Pennsylvania taxes all income at a flat 3.07% — the lowest state rate of any big-city state in this app, with no standard deduction. Philadelphia then adds the Wage Tax, charged to residents on all earned income wherever they work and to non-residents on income earned in the city. Resident and non-resident rates have been around 3.74% and 3.43%, and a five-year reduction plan approved in June 2025 is stepping both down — take the current figure from the city.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential English phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
The Wage Tax is charged on where you live and where you work
CriticalPhiladelphia residents pay the Wage Tax on all earned income regardless of where their employer is, and non-residents pay it on income earned within the city. The resident rate has been around 3.74% and the non-resident rate around 3.43%, with a five-year reduction plan approved in June 2025 stepping both down — check the city's current published rate, which changed again in mid-2026. On top of Pennsylvania's flat 3.07%, this is the second-highest combined local burden in this app after New York.
Claim the income-based Wage Tax refund if you qualify
CriticalPhiladelphia offers a refund of part of the Wage Tax to workers whose income falls below a threshold, tied to Pennsylvania's tax forgiveness programme. It requires an application and a great many eligible people never make one, because nobody tells them it exists. If your household income is modest, check the city's Revenue Department page before you file.
Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% is the lowest state rate of any big-city state here
CriticalCompare it to New York's 9.65% top rate, California's 13.3% or Massachusetts's 5%. Pennsylvania taxes all income at a single low rate with no standard deduction — which is regressive at the bottom and very favourable at the top. If you earn well, the state layer here is the cheapest in this set; the city layer is what claws it back.
You have 60 days to get a Pennsylvania licence
CriticalNew residents must obtain a PA licence within 60 days of establishing residency. Pennsylvania does not maintain broad reciprocity with foreign licensing authorities, so most foreign licence holders take the knowledge and road tests as new drivers. Check your specific situation with PennDOT before assuming an exchange is available.
Apply for your Social Security number about ten days after arriving
CriticalSSA verifies your status against DHS records that lag entry by one to two weeks, so an immediate visit usually wastes the trip. Only work-authorised people qualify; everyone else files IRS Form W-7 for an ITIN. The card is free.
This is the cheapest large city on the US east coast, by a wide margin
ImportantA one-bed in a good Philadelphia neighbourhood costs roughly half what the equivalent does in New York or Boston, and the rowhouse stock means real space rather than a studio. Combined with SEPTA and a compact, walkable core, the cost-of-living gap against the rest of the north-east corridor is the single strongest argument for being here — and it is why so many people commute to New York from here.
Top industries & employers
Healthcare & academic medicine
Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Temple Health
'Meds and eds' is the local shorthand and it is accurate — the hospital systems and universities together are the region's dominant employer.
Cell & gene therapy
Spark Therapeutics, Iovance, Century Therapeutics, Amicus
CAR-T cell therapy was developed at Penn, and the resulting cluster — sometimes called Cellicon Valley — is one of the most significant concentrations of gene therapy work anywhere.
Pharmaceuticals & life sciences
GSK, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Teva, Incyte
The Philadelphia–New Jersey corridor has been a pharmaceutical centre for a century, and much of the industry's US research base still sits within an hour of the city.
Financial services & asset management
Vanguard, Comcast Spectacor, Radian, FS Investments
Vanguard in Malvern manages trillions and is one of the region's largest private employers — a very different financial culture from New York's.
Media & telecommunications
Comcast, NBCUniversal, Sky
Comcast's two towers dominate the skyline and make Philadelphia the headquarters of one of the world's largest media companies.
Higher education
University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, Villanova
Penn is an Ivy League research university and the city's largest private employer; the wider region has one of the highest densities of colleges in the United States.
Where to go in Philadelphia
Reading Terminal Market
Food · Center City
An 1893 market hall under the old train shed, with Pennsylvania Dutch stalls, delis and the city's best lunch counters.
Local tip: The Amish merchants only trade Wednesday to Saturday. DiNic's roast pork with broccoli rabe and provolone is the sandwich to order — locals will tell you it beats a cheesesteak, and they are right.
The Barnes Foundation
Culture · Parkway Museums District
Albert Barnes's collection of Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse, hung in his own idiosyncratic arrangements exactly as he specified.
Local tip: The hanging is the point — paintings jumbled with ironwork and furniture, no labels on the walls. Book a timed ticket. The Rodin Museum a few blocks along is small, free-ish and almost empty.
Fairmount Park & the Wissahickon
Nature · North-west
One of the largest urban park systems in the country, with a gorge running north-west where Forbidden Drive follows the creek for miles.
Local tip: The Wissahickon feels genuinely wild despite being inside the city. Forbidden Drive is closed to cars and runs five miles along the water — enter at Valley Green Inn.
South 9th Street Italian Market
Food · South Philadelphia
The oldest continuously operating outdoor market in the US, now as much Mexican and Vietnamese as Italian.
Local tip: Go on a Saturday morning. The southern end past Washington Avenue is where the Mexican taquerias and the best value are — most visitors stop at the cheesesteak corner and miss it entirely.
Independence National Historical Park
Landmark · Old City
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, plus the surrounding 18th-century streets.
Local tip: Independence Hall needs a free timed ticket in peak season. Skip the Liberty Bell queue and walk to Elfreth's Alley instead — the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in America, and free.
Bartram's Garden
Hidden gemNature · Southwest Philadelphia
America's oldest surviving botanic garden, from 1728, on 50 acres beside the Schuylkill with a free community boathouse.
Local tip: Free to enter, rarely busy, and the free kayak and rowing programme in summer is one of the best-kept secrets in the city. The view of the skyline across the tidal river is unlike any other in Philadelphia.
Emergency numbers in Philadelphia
Compare Philadelphia with…
Side-by-side cost of living, language, climate and careers — to help you choose.