Center City’s population growth has kept up with housing construction for a decade. Now comes a record number of new homes.

For another year, a growing population of residents has been a bright spot in the story of Philadelphia’s downtown, according to Center City District.

The number of people in and around Center City on a given day has dropped 8% over the last four years, but the population living there has grown by 3%, the business improvement district said in its annual Center City housing report released this week.

For the last decade, the area’s population growth has kept up with new home construction “and hopefully will continue to do so,” said Prema Katari Gupta, Center City District’s president and chief executive officer.

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Greater Center City’s population grew by 26% from 2011 to 2022. The number of housing units there grew by 24%. Philadelphia as a whole had much slower growth, and the number of housing units grew faster than the population. From 2011 to 2022, the number of homes in the city grew by 9%, while the city’s population grew by 5%.

The number of new homes in greater Center City, which has remained the fastest growing residential area in Philadelphia for the last two decades, has continued to grow. Roughly 2,840 housing units were completed there in 2023 — more than in any of the last five years.

Gupta said the large number of homes coming online is “something that we’re watching really closely” to see how supply matches up with demand in the future. But, she said, Center City District is “pleasantly surprised” that the growth of housing supply and population increases have kept up with each other thus far.

Center City District points to Philadelphia’s downtown as a destination for affluent young professionals who graduate from local schools or relocate from other cities and surrounding counties.

“I think a lot of people thought that the population growth would curtail as the millennials sort of moved out to suburbs perhaps or left the city,” Gupta said. “And that hasn’t happened, which I think is interesting and positive.”

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Greater Center City — defined by the Center City District as Girard Avenue to Tasker Street and between the Schuylkill and Delaware River — has an outsized share of the city’s hew housing. Although this area is roughly 6% of Philadelphia, 37% of the city’s new homes last year were there.

“Center City continues to adapt as a thriving live-work, mixed-use downtown,” Gupta said. “More residents means steady foot traffic, which attracts restaurants and retailers, increases economic activity, and contributes to safety and security.”

“Though there was a pause in construction in 2020, over the last really three years, the momentum has returned,” said Lauren Smith, manager of economic development at Center City District and author of the report.

Since 2021, greater Center City has gained 7,429 housing units. Another 7,181 are in the pipeline.

In greater Center City last year, about 700 more new housing units were completed than pre-pandemic in 2019, when roughly 2,140 new units were completed.

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But although developers have continued to build, they face challenges such as higher interest rates and construction costs that could stifle future housing unit growth.

Among the residential projects completed in and around Center City last year were the Jessup House with 399 apartments; The Ryland with 272 rental units; and The Laurel, the largest residential tower in Center City at 48 stories.

“I think [Center City] will continue to be the place that makes sense for folks that want a great urban, multifamily experience, whether they’re at the beginning of their careers or they’re empty-nesters,” Gupta said.

More than 200,000 people live in greater Center City. Since 2020, more people have moved into the area than have moved out.

More than half of Center City’s movers from 2021 to 2023 came from somewhere else in Pennsylvania, including collar counties and elsewhere in Philadelphia. The next most popular state to move from was New York. Anecdotally, New Yorkers moved to Philadelphia for more affordability in the era of remote work.

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Over the last decade, residents of greater Center City have gotten younger. And now 40% are 22 to 34 years old. More than half of residents in core Center City are in this age range.

More than 80% of the people living in core Center City have a college degree. And the median household income across greater Center City — meaning half of residents make more and half make less — is $96,782.

More singles and empty-nesters live in core Center City, while households are generally larger and have more school-age children in the areas just outside. About half of the households in core Center City don’t have a car.

According to 2022 data from the Census Bureau, more than a third of greater Center City’s 113,500 homes were occupied by owners. More renters lived in core Center City and a higher share of owners lived in the zip codes bordering the core.