September 25, 2023
THOM CARROLL/for PhillyVoice
Philadelphia is the third-most expensive city when it comes to monthly parking rates, according to a new report. Center City West and Penn Center are the priciest places to park.
Philly is one of the most expensive U.S. cities when it comes to monthly parking rates, according to a new report.
On average, Philadelphians spend $250 to park their cars on a monthly basis, according to a new report published by mobility services company Finn. That ties the city with Seattle as the third-most expensive place to park. Parking is only costlier in New York and San Francisco.
The report ranked Washington just behind Philly; Chicago was the cheapest of the 10 cities on the list, with an average monthly parking cost of $143.
Philadelphia has seen its parking stock shrink in recent years, which may account for the high cost of parking. From 2015 to 2020, the city lost 632 public parking spaces to development, according to a 2021 report issued by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. During that five-year period, the average monthly cost of parking in the city rose from $253 to $267, the commission found.
Unsurprisingly, Center City is a particularly costly place to park. Market Street West, Penn Center and Rittenhouse Square are the most expensive neighborhoods for monthly parking, according to the planning commission's report.
For city residents, rising parking costs are just one of the ways that car ownership has become more financially burdensome in recent years. On average, it costs an average of $1,105 per month to own a car, according to recent statistics from AAA. That's a 13% increase over last year.
Fortunately for Philadelphians, the city is notably friendly to other modes of personal transportation. In addition to operating the fifth-largest public transit system in the U.S., Philadelphia recently was named the most walkable city in the nation by USA Today's Readers Choice Awards.
Philly is also one of the best places to bike. The city recently was ranked the fourth-best city for biking by the bicycling advocacy nonprofit PeopleForBikes.
