How Much Does It Cost to Live in Philadelphia? A 2026 Rent and Budget Guide

Updated August 2026. Rent figures reflect Apartment List data as of July 2026.

According to the Apartment List Rent Index, the median rent across all apartment sizes in Philadelphia is $1,447 as of July 2026, with one-bedrooms at $1,323 and two-bedrooms at $1,531. On that all-sizes figure it's the cheapest major city on the Northeast corridor, $245 under Newark and $1,065 under Jersey City. Add the estimated electricity, water, and grocery costs and an illustrative solo budget starts around $1,973 before transportation, internet, insurance, parking, or discretionary spending.

Two other things shape that total: whether you keep a car, and the size of apartment you're after. This guide works through each piece with Philadelphia figures you can plan against.

Cost of Living at a Glance

How to use these numbers: Start with the rent for the unit size you're considering. Add the planning estimates that apply to you, then replace them with listing-specific charges and your expected usage.

Stacked together, the one-bedroom median plus the estimated electricity, water, and grocery costs come to about $1,973 a month for a solo renter.

That total is illustrative, and it leaves out transportation, internet, insurance, parking, and anything discretionary.

What Is the Median Rent in Philadelphia in 2026?

The median one-bedroom rent in Philadelphia is $1,323 as of July 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index. Two-bedrooms run $1,531, a difference of $208 a month, and the all-sizes median is $1,447.

Philadelphia is one of the few large rental markets still rising. Rents are up 0.38% year over year and 0.44% month over month, while Apartment List's national median fell 1.05% over the same period.

A 0.38% move is close to flat. What it does show is that Philadelphia is not softening the way the national median is. These are citywide figures though, and they do not establish what any individual building is asking or offering, so ask each one directly about fees and the move-in total.

Philadelphia One-Bedrooms Cost About 91% of the Citywide Median

Every city has a gap between what a one-bedroom costs and what the typical apartment costs. Philadelphia's is narrow. A one-bedroom here runs $1,323 against a citywide median of $1,447. A one-bedroom here costs about 91 cents for every dollar the typical apartment costs. Across the country's 50 largest cities, that figure is closer to 86 cents (Apartment List, July 2026).

Small units carry more of Philadelphia's price floor than they do in most big cities, so a solo renter sees less of the city's affordability than the headline suggests. The corridor comparison below shows what that costs in practice. Shop the one-bedroom figure.

How Philadelphia Compares With Its Wider Metro

Philadelphia's overall median rent of $1,447 sits about 9% below the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro median of $1,590 (Apartment List, July 2026).

How much that matters depends on the size you need. The gap narrows to 4.5% on one-bedrooms, where the city median is $1,323 against $1,386 across the metro, and widens back to about 9% on two-bedrooms. That metro figure includes Philadelphia itself, along with Camden, Wilmington, and the communities around them. It describes the whole region, not the areas outside the city. Before you assume a move outside the city line will lower your rent, compare the specific places you are considering at the unit size you need.

How Does Philadelphia Rent Compare With the Northeast Corridor?

All figures are Apartment List medians as of July 2026.

The corridor spreads out from here. Philadelphia sits at the bottom of it.

Switch the comparison to one-bedrooms, though, and Philadelphia slides to third. Baltimore lands at $1,265 and Newark at $1,268, both under Philadelphia's $1,323 (Apartment List, July 2026). Two of the cities it beats on the citywide figure beat it back on the smallest units.

So the answer depends on which unit size you compare. On the all-sizes median, which blends studios through larger units, Philadelphia is the cheapest city on this list. On one-bedrooms, Baltimore and Newark both come in lower, by about $55 a month. If you are shopping for a two-bedroom, compare two-bedroom medians directly rather than reading either figure as a proxy.

The top of the range holds either way. Everything north of Newark is a different financial conversation whatever size you need, and Jersey City's $1,065 premium is roughly three-quarters of Philadelphia's $1,447 median rent.

What Income Corresponds to Philadelphia Rent at the 30% Benchmark?

Using Apartment List's July 2026 median one-bedroom rent of $1,323, the rent-only 30% calculation corresponds to about $52,920 in annual gross income.

The arithmetic: $1,323 x 12 / 0.30 = about $52,920 in annual gross income.

The 30% figure is the share of gross income the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers affordable. HUD's version includes utilities. The calculation above is rent-only, so treat it as a floor rather than a full housing budget.

This calculation uses gross income, while the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator asks for after-tax income and will produce a different estimate.

That distinction carries real weight here. Philadelphia charges residents a wage tax of 3.735% on earned income, effective July 1, 2026, and the gross-income benchmark above cannot see it. On a $52,920 salary that is roughly $1,976 a year, about $165 a month, gone before you have paid rent.

The tax follows both where you live and where you work. Philadelphia residents owe it on earned income wherever their job is, and non-residents who work in the city owe a non-resident rate on the income they earn here. Moving outside the city line does not remove it if your job stays in Philadelphia. Check both addresses against the city's rules before you assume a suburban move changes your take-home.

Treat $52,920 as a planning benchmark, not a salary requirement or a screening rule.

How Do You Set a Rent Ceiling for a Specific Listing?

Start from what you earn. Multiply your annual gross income by 0.30, then divide by 12. That gives you the monthly rent the benchmark points to.

On a $60,000 salary that is about $1,500 a month. On $75,000 it is about $1,875. On $45,000 it is about $1,125, which sits below Philadelphia's $1,323 median one-bedroom, so a solo one-bedroom at the median would run above the benchmark at that income.

The arithmetic also runs the other way if you are looking at a specific listing. Multiply the monthly rent by 12 and divide by 0.30 to see the income it implies: a $1,700 listing points to about $68,000, and a $1,100 listing to about $44,000.

Run it against the medians and you get the income each unit size lines up with. At the 30% planning benchmark, Philadelphia's $1,323 one-bedroom median corresponds to about $52,920 in annual gross income. The $1,531 two-bedroom median corresponds to about $61,240 (Apartment List, July 2026). Split equally between two renters, the $766 share corresponds to about $30,640 each.

Because of the wage tax, run the after-tax version too. The Apartment List Rent Calculator works from your actual income and debts rather than a flat percentage, which gets you closer to what the month will really feel like.

What Should You Budget Beyond Rent in Philadelphia?

Transit

SEPTA charges $2.90 for a Bus and Metro ride and $116.00 for a monthly TransPass+, per SEPTA. That fare took effect September 1, 2025 and was still the published price through July 2026.

A $116 pass and a car budget contain different costs. Compare the pass with your own payment, insurance, fuel, parking, and meter costs before you rule out a pricier apartment closer in. Subway, trolley, bus, and Regional Rail service reaches Center City, University City, South Philadelphia, and West Philadelphia, so whether a car is optional depends on where you land and where you need to be.

Electricity

Pennsylvania is deregulated, so PECO delivers the power either way but you choose the company that generates it, and you can compare offers at PAPowerSwitch. If you never choose, you pay PECO's default price to compare, which rose to 11.759 cents per kWh on June 1, 2026, per the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. That rate covers generation only, and PECO's delivery and fixed charges sit on top of it, which is why the modeled $121 estimate runs well above the per-kWh rate alone.

Water and Sewer

The Philadelphia Water Department bills a typical residential household about $89.42 a month under rates effective September 2025, based on a 5/8-inch meter and average usage. An adopted increase raises that same typical bill to $94.31 on September 1, 2026, so if you are reading this on or after that date, budget the higher figure.

Two things to check locally. Many rowhouse conversions fold water into the rent, so ask rather than assume. The stormwater charge runs about a quarter of that typical bill and is billed on the property rather than on usage, so conservation does not reduce it.

Households at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, or facing a qualifying hardship, may be eligible for the Tiered Assistance Program, which sets bills as a share of income and can forgive past debt after 24 on-time payments.

Groceries

The USDA Moderate-Cost Food Plan puts groceries for a single adult at about $440 a month as of June 2026. That's a national benchmark rather than a Philadelphia number, so treat it as a starting point and adjust it for how much you cook against how often you eat out.

How Do Solo and Shared Philadelphia Budgets Compare?

At Philadelphia's July 2026 median, a two-bedroom would cost about $766 per renter if two people split the rent equally, against $1,323 for a one-bedroom you pay for on your own (Apartment List, July 2026). That's roughly $557 a month less, before utilities and fees.

At the rent-only 30% benchmark, that $766 share corresponds to about $30,640 in annual gross income.

Philadelphia's one-bedroom median lines up with about $52,920 in gross income at the benchmark. The same calculation on Washington's $2,129 one-bedroom median points to about $85,160, and Jersey City's $2,458 to about $98,320 (Apartment List, July 2026). Baltimore and Newark both sit below Philadelphia on one-bedrooms, so the corridor does not run in one direction. What sharing buys you here is the $557 a month, not access to the city.

What Should You Confirm Before Paying an Application Fee?

• Whether water is included in rent, which varies building to building in rowhouse conversions

• Whether the unit has its own electricity meter, and who the current supplier is

• Whether heat is gas or electric, and who pays it

• Whether parking is included, and what a residential permit costs on that block

• Total move-in cost: first month, security deposit, and any administrative, pet, or amenity fees

One Philadelphia-specific item worth checking carefully. The state act covering residential leases limits security deposits to two months' rent in the first year of a lease and one month's rent from the second year on, and provides that after five years the deposit cannot be raised even if the rent goes up. Ask the property for its total move-in amount in writing before paying.

How Do You Find Lower Rent in Philadelphia?

Start with the neighborhood guides:

• Cheapest neighborhoods in Philadelphia

• Best neighborhoods in Philadelphia

• Safest neighborhoods in Philadelphia

Then run your actual numbers. The Apartment List Rent Calculator sets a ceiling from your income and debts, and Rate My Rent grades a specific listing against comparable nearby apartments on rent, square footage, and amenities. Philadelphia rents were up 0.38% year over year as of July 2026, so if a listing costs more than similar apartments nearby, ask about it now rather than waiting for the price to come down.

Compare Philadelphia With Your Current City

If you are moving in from somewhere else, the Apartment List Cost of Living Calculator compares your current city against Philadelphia. It asks for monthly household income after taxes, which is the right input for a city that taxes residents on what they earn.

Philadelphia asks less of your rent than any of its corridor neighbors on the all-sizes median, and takes 3.735% of resident earned income on top. Run both sides of that when you compare cities, since the rent figure alone will overstate what you keep.

When the math works, browse Philadelphia apartments and start comparing real listings.

Appendix: Methodology and Data Sources

Rent figures come from the Apartment List Rent Estimate Methodology, which uses a same-unit, repeat-transaction analysis.

Income figures are calculations based on the cited Apartment List rent medians and the 30% rent-to-income benchmark, not measured income data.

The $1,973 monthly planning total is illustrative, combining the median one-bedroom rent with the electricity, water and sewer, and grocery estimates listed in the At-a-Glance table above. Electricity assumes 500 kWh a month on PECO's default service and includes delivery and fixed customer charges alongside the generation price to compare, so a competitive supplier plan will change it. These are modeled planning estimates rather than utility-reported apartment averages. It excludes transportation, internet, renter's insurance, parking, debt payments, and anything discretionary.

Frequently Asked Questions About Philadelphia Rent & Cost of Living

What Is the Average Rent in Philadelphia?

Apartment List reports a median rather than an average, because a median better represents a typical apartment and is less distorted by a handful of luxury units. The median all-sizes rent in Philadelphia is $1,447 as of July 2026, with one-bedrooms at $1,323 and two-bedrooms at $1,531.

How Does Philadelphia Rent Compare With Its Metro?

Philadelphia's overall median of $1,447 sits about 9% below the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro median of $1,590 (Apartment List, July 2026). The gap depends on unit size: 4.5% on one-bedrooms and about 9% on two-bedrooms. That metro figure includes Philadelphia along with Camden, Wilmington, and surrounding communities, so it describes the whole region rather than the areas outside the city. If you are searching outward expecting to save, compare the specific places you are considering at the unit size you need.

Is Philadelphia the Cheapest City on the Northeast Corridor?

It depends on which unit size you compare. Philadelphia's all-sizes median of $1,447 is the lowest among the major corridor cities (Apartment List, July 2026), so on that blended figure it is the cheapest option here. On one-bedrooms it ranks third: Baltimore's one-bedroom median is $1,265 and Newark's is $1,268, against Philadelphia's $1,323. The difference is about $55 a month, so compare one-bedroom figures directly rather than relying on the citywide median.

What Salary Do You Need to Rent in Philadelphia?

Using Apartment List's July 2026 median one-bedroom rent of $1,323, the rent-only 30% calculation corresponds to about $52,920 in annual gross income. This is a planning benchmark, not a requirement. It also uses gross income, and Philadelphia's 3.735% resident wage tax means your take-home will not track that figure. Non-residents who work in the city owe a non-resident rate too, so check both your home and work addresses against the city's rules.

Does the Philadelphia Wage Tax Change What You Can Afford?

Yes. Philadelphia residents pay a 3.735% wage tax on earned income as of July 1, 2026, according to the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue. On a $52,920 salary that is roughly $1,976 a year, or about $165 a month, before rent. Because the 30% benchmark works from gross income, run an after-tax version before you set a ceiling.

Is 30% of Income a Hard Limit for Rent?

No. It is a widely used benchmark, and HUD treats housing costs above 30% of income as cost-burdened. Plenty of renters exceed it. According to Apartment List research, about 51.8% of U.S. renter households are cost-burdened and 26.1% are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half their income on housing, based on 2024 ACS data. Those are national figures, not Philadelphia-specific.

How Does Philadelphia Rent Compare With Other Northeast Cities?

Philadelphia is the cheapest major city on the corridor at $1,447 all-sizes (Apartment List, July 2026). Baltimore is the closest peer at $1,495. Newark runs $1,692, Washington DC $2,154, and Jersey City $2,512.

How Much More Does a Two-Bedroom Cost Than a One-Bedroom in Philadelphia?

About $208 a month. The median one-bedroom is $1,323 and the median two-bedroom is $1,531 as of July 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index. That is the cost of renting the larger apartment, not the cost per person: two renters splitting that two-bedroom equally would pay about $766 each.

How Do Solo and Shared Philadelphia Budgets Compare?

At the July 2026 median, a two-bedroom would cost about $766 per renter if two people split the rent equally, against $1,323 for a one-bedroom you pay for on your own (Apartment List, July 2026), a difference of roughly $557 a month before utilities and fees. That $766 share corresponds to about $30,640 in annual gross income at the rent-only 30% benchmark.