Best PlacesCity Center East, Philadelphia, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around City Center East, Philadelphia, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
City Center East, Philadelphia ranks 926th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in City Center East, Philadelphia
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
City Center East, Philadelphia's strengths and weaknesses
Where City Center East, Philadelphia ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where City Center East, Philadelphia ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in City Center East, Philadelphia
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median City Center East, Philadelphia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,017, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses City Center East, Philadelphia's effective rate of 1.13%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in City Center East, Philadelphia
City Center East, Philadelphia runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for City Center East, Philadelphia.
Who works in City Center East, Philadelphia, and how
Work in City Center East, Philadelphia centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 22%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 44%
Life in City Center East, Philadelphia
City Center East, Philadelphia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of City Center East, Philadelphia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in City Center East, Philadelphia, month by month
City Center East, Philadelphia sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of City Center East, Philadelphia
Philadelphia International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around City Center East, Philadelphia
Schools across City Center East, Philadelphia average a C, better than 53% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Mccall Gen George A SchA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amy At MartinD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Arts Academy At Benjamin RushA− · 65% proficient
- Mastery Chs-lenfest CampusD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every City Center East, Philadelphia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
City Center East, Philadelphia measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare City Center East, Philadelphia against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who City Center East, Philadelphia suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of neighborhoods and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in City Center East, Philadelphia
Is City Center East, Philadelphia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, City Center East, Philadelphia ranks 926th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on health care access, walkability, and transit, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is City Center East, Philadelphia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $606,161. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $106,017 median income, cost of living beats 82% of neighborhoods.
Is City Center East, Philadelphia safe?
City Center East, Philadelphia is safer than 14% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $746 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in City Center East, Philadelphia?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of neighborhoods.
Is City Center East, Philadelphia good for families?
Schools beat 53% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $1,021 a month.
Compare City Center East, Philadelphia with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to City Center East, Philadelphia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in City Center East, Philadelphia represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
City Center East, Philadelphia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for City Center East, Philadelphia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in City Center East, Philadelphia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of City Center East, Philadelphia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in City Center East, Philadelphia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
City Center East, Philadelphia detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.