At the 2010 census, there were 1,526,006 people, 590,071 households, and 352,272 families residing in the consolidated city-county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The population density was . There were 661,958 housing units at an average density of .

Of the 590,071 households, 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.1% were married couples living together, 22.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% were non-families. 33.8% of households were one person and 11.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.22.

The age distribution was 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median household income was $30,746 and the median family income was $37,036. Males had a median income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,509. 22.9% of the population and 18.4% of families were below the poverty line. 31.3% of those under the age of 18 and 16.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

The male-female ratio was 86.8 to 100, with 46.5% of the population male and 53.5% female. Of places with 100,000 or more people, this was the third lowest in the United States. Only Gary, Indiana and Birmingham, Alabama had a higher proportion of women. Archived copy at the Library of Congress (November 27, 2002).

Of housing units, 590,071 (89.1%) were occupied and 71,887 (10.9%) were vacant. Of occupied housing units, 349,633 (59.3%) were owner-occupied and 240,438 (40.7%) were renter-occupied.

The mean travel time to work was 32.0 minutes for workers 16 years of age and older. Residents of Center City, however, had much shorter commutes. Center City has the second largest downtown residential population in the country, surpassing Chicago in 2015, and most walk to work.

63.97% of Philadelphians drove an automobile to work (including carpools), 25.93% commuted by public transit, 9.22% walked to work, and 0.88% commuted by bicycle. 35.74% of households did not have an automobile. The proportion of Philadelphians who do not commute by auto is high compared to most other American cities, although lower than the proportions in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Population history From its founding in the 17th century through the early 19th century, the City of Philadelphia was considered the area between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and between Vine and South Streets. Although the city proper was second to New York City in population at the time of the first U.S. Census in 1790, Philadelphia County was the most populous urban (or metropolitan) area in the nation until 1810, when it was surpassed by New York. In 1854, the Act of Consolidation incorporated the rest of Philadelphia County and created Philadelphia's modern border. This resulted in a large population increase, evident in the 1860 census.

Philadelphia experienced steady growth between 1860 and 1950, except for a brief lull in the 1930s, which was due in part to the Great Depression. Its population peaked at 2,071,605 in 1950. Between 1950 and 2000, the city lost 554,055 people, or 26.7% of its population. To put this into perspective, Chicago lost 20.0% of its population during the same era, and Baltimore lost 31.4%, according to US Census data. This nationwide trend is often referred to as "white flight", named for the movement of upper- and middle-class white families from the racially evolving cities in favor of more racially homogeneous (white) suburbs.

In 2011, census data was released showing that Philadelphia had achieved its first confirmed population growth in 60 years. The increase was 0.6 percent. It is attributed to a variety of factors, including increased immigration (especially from countries like India, South Korea and Mexico) and migration from more expensive cities in the Northeast Corridor. Between 2000 and 2010, the city's Hispanic population increased by 44 percent to 187,611 and its Asian population grew by 42 percent to 95,521. Wealthy transplants, Asian American investors from New York City, and African Americans from Washington, D.C. have received media attention for setting their sights on Philadelphia.Muhammad, Nisa Islam. "D.C. 'exodus' sparks district renewal efforts for Whites", The Final Call, June 21, 2007. Accessed June 25, 2007. The ten-year tax abatement, a historically undervalued housing market, improvements to the waterfront, and continuing redevelopment throughout the city are thought to be factors drawing people to the area.

Ethnography

For most of its early history from the 1600s and up until the mid to late 1800s, the vast majority of Philadelphia's population was Protestant and composed mainly of Protestant Anglo-Saxon English Americans, many of whom were Quakers or of Quaker descent. The city also contained significant populations of free Blacks, Welsh Americans, including a great number of Welsh Quakers, such as in the Welsh Tract; Scottish Americans, Ulster Scots Americans, and Pennsylvania Dutch, most notably the German American Mennonites and German Quakers that founded Germantown, as well as the Protestant Swedish American, Finnish American, and Dutch American families that had originally arrived in the Philadelphia area to live in the colony of New Sweden, later taken over by the Dutch colony of New Netherlands before being absorbed into the British colonies. The roots of the Mummers Parade can be traced back to a blend of the traditions of these ethnic groups in Philadelphia during this period, though the celebration would evolve and be altered by the traditions of subsequent immigrant groups.

First immigrant wave Prior to the 1820s, the overwhelming majority of German and German-speaking settlers in Philadelphia such as the Pennsylvania Dutch had belonged to Protestant sects. Starting around the 1820s, an increasing number of poor Catholic Germans began to immigrate to Philadelphia, though most German immigrants to Philadelphia continued to be Protestant. By the 1840s, in response to the starvation and poverty that would lead to Great Famine of Ireland, a growing number of impoverished Irish Catholic immigrants began to settle in Philadelphia, leading to a rise in anti-Catholicism, nativism, and anti-Irish sentiment among the majority Protestant population in the city. Hatred for the newly arrived Irish Catholic immigrants culminated in the bloody anti-Irish, anti-Catholic Philadelphia Nativist Riot of 1844 and fueled the rise of the Know-Nothing Party in Philadelphia. At the same time, as the number of poor and unskilled Irish Catholic and German immigrants increased, Philadelphia experienced an increase in freed and fugitive slaves from the South seeking refuge and employment in the city. Both blacks and Irish Catholics were at the bottom of the social hierarchy in Philadelphia at the time, and poor Irish immigrants often competed with African American ex-slaves for menial or unskilled work. The competition between the two ethnic groups led to the 1842 Lombard Street Riot. Also, beginning in the mid to late 1800s, immigrants from China began to settle in Philadelphia, establishing Philadelphia's Chinatown and further diversifying the city's demographics.

Second immigrant wave Like its other immigrant-magnet peers in the Northeast, starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Philadelphia experienced an unprecedented heightened level of immigration. This period of immigration consisted of mainly impoverished Catholic and Jewish, and, to a lesser extent, Orthodox Christian immigrants from Southern European and Eastern European countries such as Italy and Poland, as well as a second wave of Catholic immigrants from Ireland. Around this same time, an increasing number of African Americans from the Southern United States began to settle in Philadelphia during the Great Migration.

Though Italians in Philadelphia would experience high levels of discrimination and prejudice, including intense redlining, Italians in Philadelphia also significantly altered the culture of Philadelphia and the cuisine, creating the Philadelphia Italian Market, the cheesesteak, the hoagie, and water ice, and introducing pizza and other Italian cuisine to the city. Italian and Irish immigrants and their children in South Philadelphia also revived, altered, and continued the Philadelphia tradition of the Mummers Parade.Hepp, Chris (August 7, 2014). "Mummers Parade going south? City mulls big change". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 2, 2015.

1940s to present Since the 1940s, Philadelphia experienced large waves of Puerto Rican migration. They remain an integral part of the city and a sizable swath of eastern North Philadelphia is considered to have the highest urban concentration of Puerto Ricans in the continental United States. The number of Hispanics and Asian Americans has increased over the past 20 years and continues to accelerate. The number of foreign-born residents increased by 34,000 between 1990 and 2000. Of foreign-born Philadelphians, 38.5% were from Asia, 30.3% were from Europe, 23.4% were from Latin America, and 6.7% were from Africa.

Recent immigrants from Asia are mainly of Indian, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Hmong, Filipino, Cambodian, Thai, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds. In addition, the Latino population continues to grow, as Dominican, Mexican, Colombian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Cuban, Honduran and Brazilian immigrants. Puerto Rican often choose Philadelphia when moving to the US mainland. Immigration from various Caribbean countries has also increased substantially since the 1940s. Immigrants from Africa, mainly West Africa and, to a lesser extent, Ethiopia, have also established significant communities in the city.

Non-Hispanic White people Large concentrations of non-Hispanic whites live in Center City, Northeast Philadelphia, and Northwest Philadelphia. Gentrification is altering the racial demographics of predominantly Black neighborhoods close to Center City.

European immigration is also growing, with more Irish, Italian, and Polish immigrants. Recently, thousands of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants from Eastern Europe, many of whom are Jewish have arrived, mainly in Northeast Philadelphia. There are other growing nationalities, which include Armenian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovak, Greek and Serbian.

Armenians , there were about 25,000 people of Armenian ancestry in the Philadelphia area and/or in South Jersey. The Hamidian massacres prior to the beginning of the 20th century, and subsequent Adana massacre of 1909 and Armenian genocide prompted Armenian immigration to the U.S. There is an Armenian day school in Upper Merion Township, Armenian Sisters Academy (ASA), with a Radnor postal address. - Also see: Township Street Map and Map of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Dutch The Dutch settled in Philadelphia.

French

There is a French community in Philadelphia. French International School of Philadelphia is in Bala Cynwyd.

Germans Around 65,000 Germans settled in Philadelphia between 1727 and 1775. Nowadays, it is estimated that over 500,000 people in the Philadelphia metropolitan area have German heritage.

Greeks There is a Greek community and a Greektown in Philadelphia.

Irish

Irish immigrants and the Irish Americans are associated in the North and Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods, including Fishtown, Kensington, Mayfair, Frankford, Port Richmond, Holmesburg, Harrowgate, and Juniata, as well as Devil's Pocket, Whitman, Gray's Ferry, and particularly Pennsport in South Philadelphia. Philadelphia has the 2nd largest Irish American population in the country.