Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative

Philadelphia’s recovery from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is a complicated and high-stakes journey for its residents, workers, employers, and policymakers. The city’s progress, including any growth, can be tracked by the ever-changing health of its businesses, the jobs they offer, the wages they pay, and what their customers spend. This dashboard provides 10 charts on local businesses and jobs at each quarter or month, starting before the pandemic-driven shutdowns in March 2020 and continuing to the present. They are assembled from various data sources and will be updated quarterly. The dashboard also includes two other charts for reference: profiles of the businesses and populations in each ZIP code area before the pandemic.

Of the largest cities and urban counties in the United States, Philadelphia is one of those hit hardest by opioid use disorder (OUD), outpacing all but a few in overdose deaths per capita. In 2020, it recorded 1,214 unintentional drug deaths, its second-highest number on record and the fourth straight year that the annual total surpassed 1,100.

Officials in Philadelphia and elsewhere have long grappled with the issue of “tangled titles” for homes—situations in which the deed to a property bears the name of someone other than the apparent owner.

In recent years, economists and policymakers have paid considerable attention to so-called middle-wage jobs— positions thought to produce a livable income and, in many cases, be available to people without bachelor’s degrees.