Discover the Pennsylvania City with the Highest Rate of Wealth Creation

The Keystone State seems to be on the rise, with three of its popular metropolises taking a spot on the American Growth Project’s list of economically expanding cities. These cities have seen an impressive recovery from the impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and have been doing an excellent job of repairing their fractured economies to help themselves in reaching new heights. This begs the question, though, of what the fastest-growing Pennsylvania city is! If you’re interested in finding this out, alongside what accomplishments helped to shoot this city to the top, read on.

How Growth Rate Is Measured

Before we begin discussing the fastest-growing Pennsylvania city, it’s important that we explain the metric that we are using to determine this. The growth rate, in the context of this article, will be measured by GDP. GDP is an acronym that stands for Gross Domestic Product.

The GDP of an area encompasses all of the goods and services that have been both created and distributed in a given period. Because there are different methods, and because certain factors aren’t accounted for, GDP is not always completely accurate. That said, it is as close to a perfect measurement as one can get. There are three ways to measure GDP, with no specific and set standard.

The first method is the production approach, which doesn’t use any other data aside from the number of product that has been produced in the given time increment. The second method, the income approach, instead uses the total amount of income that each member of the production process receives as the basis for measurement. The last, and least common, approach is expenditure. This simply measures GDP by the total amount of money spent within the economy.

An Overview of the Fastest-Growing Pennsylvania City

The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the fastest-growing Pennsylvania city: Philadelphia! The City of Brotherly Love was once our nation’s capital and its rich history is now being compounded with new, modern advancements. In 2022, the GDP of Philadelphia grew by 1.4%, ending with a GDP of 588 billion. Out of the fifty states on the list, this city ranked 26th in growth.

What Philadelphia ranked even higher in, though, was overall GDP. When the 2022 growth is factored in, Philadelphia ranks ninth in overall value. If it keeps gaining positive growth, it will reach the top five cities in no time. In terms of population, the city ranks highly there as well. It is eighth on the list, containing roughly 7.4 million individuals.

What Has Helped The Fastest-Growing Pennsylvania City Succeed?

There are a multitude of reasons why Philadelphia secured its spot on this GDP growth list. It can be believed that some of these reasons are related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation’s subsequent recovery. Once a bustling city, the pandemic caused several businesses to temporarily shut their doors. Since 2022 was the first year since the Coronavirus pandemic, the city may have finally gotten a chance for financial recovery.

Another reason, which is also a bit related to COVID-19, is Philadelphia’s standing as a city of tourism. It is a city that is rich in history, and many who come and patronize the area’s local businesses are tourists. According to the Visit Philadelphia Yearly Report, the city saw a 15% increase in tourism in 2022 compared to the year prior.

As it stands, Philadelphia is among some of the most affordable cities to live in. Livable rents and wages are likely to attract many young workers searching for a place to settle down. It has proximity to New York and other high-interest areas without possessing some of the greater financial burdens.

Those aren’t the only reasons why this city might’ve seen some growth, either. There was also an increase in infrastructure projects. More projects mean more job opportunities for residents and more subsequent economic growth.

Other Fast-Growing Pennsylvania Cities

When it comes to the fastest-growing Pennsylvania city in 2022, we know that Philadelphia had the title in the bag. Although, this isn’t the only city that the state had on the top fifty list! Two other cities fall below Philadelphia’s placement, which means that the state of Pennsylvania had three total cities on the rise. Here’s some brief information on the other two qualifiers.

Pittsburgh, PA

Falling just two spots below Philadelphia on the top fifty list is Pittsburgh, PA! The Steel City ranked 28th, experiencing a 1.2% GDP increase. The reason for this city’s ranking is similar to Philadelphia’s, but an outlier is its emerging healthcare technology. This, in tandem with its increases in information technology, is likely what has made Pittsburgh rise to a higher GDP.

Harrisburg, PA

Ranking two spots below Pittsburgh and four spots below Philadelphia is Harrisburg, PA. This historic area ranked 30th on the list and had a GDP increase of 1.1% in 2022. Some of the reasons for this ranking are obvious, such as the fact that this is the capital city of Pennsylvania, but also because it has a similar economic standing as other Pennsylvania cities without such a high cost of living.