“New York to Philly Among Largest Metro-to-Metro Migration Flows, Says Census Bureau:”

As mentioned earlier, Philly’s metro-to-metro inbound mobility proved in large part to be dominated by New Yorkers, with up to 26,957 per year moving to the Greater Philadelphia Metro during [2009-2013]. We’ve known this has been happening for awhile, so Property dug a little deeper to find the next two metros whose residents up and left for Philly.

The results? An estimated 5,182 folks from the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Area moved to our neck of the woods during that time as well, as did almost 4,759 from the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson Metro Area. Interestingly, included in the metro-to-metro chart were international regions, with Philly’s largest influx of residents from abroad hailing from Asia for an estimated 13,762. … next time you meet a fresh transplant, whether from the ‘burbs, New York or wherever else, indirectly thank them for all the pretty things Philly is getting.

Philadelphia too often compares itself to other cities in ways that don’t make sense, or that neglect the distinctiveness of the city and its surrounding counties. This on the other hand is a reminder that sometimes Philadelphia looks to New York because there’s cause to.