Comparing the Tax Burden in Philadelphia and the Suburbs

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Glossary of terms:

Tax burden %: The percentage of a four-person family’s gross household income that is owed on property taxes, sales taxes, and income taxes in a given year.*

Tax burden $: The dollar amount of property taxes, sales taxes, and income taxes that a family of four would owe in a given year.*

Tax burden $ gap with Philadelphia: The dollar amount of taxes that a family of four would save or owe additionally by living in the suburbs instead of Philadelphia. Put another way:

Tax burden gap = tax burden $ for selected municipality — tax burden $ for Philadelphia

Rank: Where a selected municipality ranks among 355 municipalities in the region in terms of tax burden. A selected county is ranked among nine counties in the region. The lower the ranking, the higher the tax burden for the selected municipality.

Noncommuter: A family that lives and works in the selected suburban municipality, paying all income, property, and sales taxes in that municipality or county.

Commutes to city: A family that lives in the selected suburban municipality and works in Philadelphia, paying property and some sales taxes where they live, and income and some sales taxes in the city.

* Property taxes are local; sales and income taxes are state and local.

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Philadelphia tax gap
Philadelphia tax gap
Issue Brief

The Shrinking Tax Gap Between Philadelphia and Its Suburbs

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Issue Brief

For a homeowning family, the tax disadvantage of living in Philadelphia instead of the suburbs has dipped to its lowest point in at least 15 years, making the city more affordable in terms of taxes than many surrounding towns, particularly other communities with relatively low median household incomes.

Residential Tax Burden in Philadelphia
Residential Tax Burden in Philadelphia
Data Visualization

Infographic: Philly Tax Burden

Understanding how it has changed in the city and suburbs

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Data Visualization

The tax disadvantage of living in Philadelphia instead of the suburbs has dropped to its lowest point in 15 years, making the city more affordable in terms of taxes than many of its surrounding towns.