Survey: Philly renters cite jobs as main reason for leaving city

Millennials may be moving to Philly in droves, but survey says a good chunk of them may not make the city their permanent home. Why? Jobs.

A new Apartment List report that surveyed more than 24,000 renters across the U.S. found that 75 percent of Philly renters said they eventually plan on settling down in a new city. Job opportunities were listed as their main reason for leaving.

“Job opportunities are the biggest concern for renters in Philadelphia, with 30 percent of renters listing it as their top reason for leaving,” according to the report.

In fact, job opportunities was the top reason for leaving among all renters surveyed across the U.S.

Affordability and safety were the second and third most-cited reasons for leaving Philly, respectively.

These numbers are based off of 300 Philly-based renters that responded to the Apartment List survey. But its findings do back up other research that has found job growth to be a main concern for Philly’s future.

In a separate 2016 survey conducted by Pew, jobs and economy were cited as the third biggest problem facing Philadelphia. According to Pew’s annual “Philadelphia: State of the City” report, Philly’s economy performed pretty well in 2016—it outperformed the nation as a whole in job growth for the first time since the Great Recession. But the unemployment rate has held relatively steady at 6.8 percent, which is about two points above the national average.

So where do these Philly renters plan to settle down? Based on the survey, they’re eyeing New York, D.C., and Los Angeles, which is interesting, since all three of those cities are considered to have less affordable rental and housing markets than Philly.

• Moving On: Why are Renters Relocating? [Apartment List]