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Real estate · Metro area · Pennsylvania

Real estate businesses in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area

The real estate businesses in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 63 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #69 of 387 scored metro areas
#16 of 16 scored metro areas based in Pennsylvania

Listings
8,311
512 chain locations (6%)
Official establishments
4,359
+13.8% since 2019
Household spending a year
$47B
On rent and homeowner costs · $19,050 a household
Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)
131
31% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
33.7
12% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
6,329,118
+1.4% since 2020

See the real estate businesses around any address in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

The site report maps the real estate businesses on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Household spending on rent and homeowner costs in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area comes to about $47B a year: $19,050 per household, 14% above the U.S. average. Housing spending per office is 31% above the U.S. figure. The spending figure is all rent and homeowner costs, a measure of housing demand, not money real estate businesses take in.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area has 8,311 real estate businesses on map listings as of September 2026. Of those, 512 are chain locations, or 6%, against 6% across the U.S. That comes to 33.7 for every 10,000 households, 12% below the U.S. rate of 38.5.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area was 4,359 in 2023, up 13.8% from 2019. That is one for every 566 households, against one for every 414 across the U.S. Official counts list 31,836 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 64 SBA-backed loans worth $11.5M have gone to businesses classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +1.4%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area scores 63 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for real estate businesses, ranking #69 of 387 scored metro areas and #16 of 16 scored metro areas based in Pennsylvania. That puts it in the top quarter of metro areas.

How the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area compares

The same measures for Pennsylvania and the whole U.S. Housing spending per listing divides all rent and homeowner costs by the listings counted: a measure of housing demand for each business, not money any of them take in, so it is shown against the U.S. (100) only. Households per establishment divides households by the official count.

Real estate in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area compared with Pennsylvania and the U.S.
MeasurePhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro areaPennsylvaniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households33.725.338.5
Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)131165100
Households per official establishment566752414
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+13.8%+15.7%+15.8%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.4%+0.5%+3.1%
Spending per household on rent and homeowner costs$19,050$18,070$16,661
Median household income$91,289$77,971$80,734
Groundwork market score6376

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
4,359+13.8% over the period
Employees, 2023
27,422
Annual payroll, 2023
$2.5B
One-person businesses, 2023
31,836Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
8,311512 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
10,853The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
64
Amount
$11.5M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
6,329,118+1.4% since 2020
Households
2,467,761
Median age
40.5
Homes lived in by their owners
67%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
4,603 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,363
Median household income
$91,289+26.2% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$126,166
Median home value
$351,900
Jobs located here
2,980,509
Daytime population
6,255,075Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the real estate businesses on map listings by name and distance.

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Real estate across Pennsylvania

Every Pennsylvania market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Pennsylvania for real estate businesses, numbered among those based in Pennsylvania, with the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Pennsylvania

Metro areas in Pennsylvania ranked for real estate businesses by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsHousing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)Population growthU.S. rank
1Gettysburg, PA875012.2343+3.6%#2 of 387
2Reading, PA8231819.5213+2.7%#3 of 387
3Lebanon, PA8111119.6209+2.2%#4 of 387
4York-Hanover, PA8148226.5159+3.6%#7 of 387
5Chambersburg, PA8015624.6166+3.0%#9 of 387
6Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA7738116.3237+1.4%#12 of 387
7Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ7790726.7160+3.0%#13 of 387
8Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA7770628.7146+4.2%#14 of 387
9Johnstown, PA736511.6316−3.2%#25 of 387
10Erie, PA7317415.7243−1.8%#26 of 387
16Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD638,31133.7131+1.4%#69 of 387

Other business types in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many real estate businesses are in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 8,311 real estate businesses in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area. 512 of them (6%) are chain locations. The listings count real estate agents and brokers, property managers, mortgage brokers and lenders, and home inspectors. Official counts show 4,359 businesses with payroll classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in 2023, up 13.8% from 2019. Official counts also show 31,836 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area spend on rent and homeowner costs?

About $47B a year, or $19,050 per household. That is 14% above the U.S. average (an index of 114, where 100 is the U.S. average). For the 8,311 real estate businesses on map listings, housing spending per office is 31% above the U.S. figure. That figure is all rent and homeowner costs, used as a measure of housing demand; it is not money real estate businesses take in. It is estimated from the incomes of the 2,467,761 households in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area compare with the U.S. for real estate businesses?

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area has 33.7 real estate businesses per 10,000 households, 12% below the U.S. rate of 38.5. The index of housing spending per office is 131, where 100 is the U.S. At the U.S. ratio of real estate businesses to household spending, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area would have about 10,853, against 8,311 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 566 households, against one for every 414 across the U.S. The official count rose 13.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +15.8% for the U.S.

How fast is the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area at 6,329,118 people in 2025, up 1.4% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 2,467,761 households. Median household income in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area is $91,289, 13% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 26.2%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area scores 63 for real estate businesses (upper middle), #69 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area. It maps the real estate businesses on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for real estate businesses · All 56 business types in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.