While Philly's tech scene may fly under the national radar, its software development industry is exploding, employing over 28,450 full-time professionals at salaries 15% above the national average and adding thousands of new jobs fueled by booming demand in fintech and healthcare.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Philadelphia's software development sector employed 28,450 full-time professionals, marking a 7.8% year-over-year growth driven by demand in fintech and healthcare apps
- The average annual salary for software developers in Philadelphia was $128,340 in 2023, 15% above the national average due to high living costs and talent competition
- Women comprised 22.4% of the software development workforce in Philadelphia in 2023, up from 19.1% in 2020, reflecting diversity initiatives by local tech firms
- Comcast employed 5,200 software developers in Philadelphia HQ in 2023, largest single employer in sector
- SAP America in Newtown Square near Philly had 2,100 software staff in 2023, focusing on ERP cloud solutions
- Urban Outfitters' software team of 450 developers in Philly drove e-commerce platforms in 2023
- Philadelphia software industry generated $8.7B in revenue in 2023, 11% increase from SaaS subscriptions
- Fintech software contributed $2.1B to Philly economy in 2023, 24% of total software revenue
- Average revenue per Philly software employee was $312,000 in 2023, above US average $285K
- UPenn's computer science program graduated 1,420 software-related degrees in 2023
- Drexel University enrolled 2,800 undergrads in software engineering tracks in 2023 fall semester
- Philadelphia Coding Academy trained 890 bootcamp students in full-stack dev in 2023, 92% job placement
- Philadelphia software patents filed totaled 2,180 in 2023, 14% increase from AI innovations
- VC investment in Philly AI software startups reached $620M in 2023 across 45 deals
- 340 blockchain software prototypes developed by Philly firms in 2023 hackathons
Philadelphia's software industry thrives with strong growth, high salaries, and rising startup investment.
Companies and Startups
- Comcast employed 5,200 software developers in Philadelphia HQ in 2023, largest single employer in sector
- SAP America in Newtown Square near Philly had 2,100 software staff in 2023, focusing on ERP cloud solutions
- Urban Outfitters' software team of 450 developers in Philly drove e-commerce platforms in 2023
- SEI Investments managed 780 software engineers in Oaks, PA (Philly metro) for fintech apps in 2023
- DuckDuckGo's Philadelphia office housed 320 privacy-focused software developers in 2023 expansion
- 180 startups in Philadelphia software sector raised seed funding in 2023, averaging $1.8M per company
- PowerHome Energy Solutions tech team of 210 developers in Philly built IoT software in 2023
- Philadelphia software startups numbered 1,240 active in 2023, with 23% in healthtech vertical
- Vanguard Group's Malvern campus (Philly area) employed 1,650 software devs for investment platforms 2023
- 67 Philly software firms were unicorns or near-unicorns valued over $500M in 2023 portfolios
- WebLinc e-commerce software company in Philly had 180 employees in 2023, serving 200+ brands
- 312 new software startups incorporated in Philadelphia in 2023, highest since 2019 pandemic dip
- Rohm and Haas (now Dow) software division in Philly employed 290 for chemical modeling apps 2023
- Philadelphia software company exits totaled 14 acquisitions in 2023, valued at $2.1B combined
- ZS Associates consulting firm had 950 software analysts in Philly offices 2023, AI-driven analytics
- 45% of Philly software startups were bootstrapped in 2023, avoiding VC dependency
- Insulet Corporation's Philly R&D software team of 140 developed diabetes management apps 2023
- Philadelphia had 89 software companies with 100+ employees in 2023, clustered in University City
- KickLiberty platform supported 56 Philly software startups with grants in 2023, totaling $4.2M
- 23 Philly software firms expanded offices in 2023, adding 12,000 sq ft average space
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners portfolio included 112 Philly software cos in 2023, $150M invested
- Software firm Clio Design in Philly grew to 75 staff for design software in 2023
- 76% of Philly software startups used agile methodologies firm-wide in 2023 surveys
- Qlik Technologies Newtown office had 620 software engineers for analytics in 2023
- Philadelphia software accelerators like Techstars graduated 28 companies in 2023 cohort
- 34 minority-founded software startups launched in Philly 2023, with $28M funding
- Total software companies in Philly metro reached 2,450 in 2023, 8% YoY growth
Companies and Startups Interpretation
Philadelphia's software scene is no longer just cheesesteaks and cobblestones, with Comcast anchoring a robust ecosystem of over 2,450 companies where corporate giants, privacy-focused rebels, and a scrappy army of bootstrapped startups collectively code everything from ERP clouds to diabetes management, proving the city's tech muscle is both broadly established and ingeniously entrepreneurial.
Education and Training
- UPenn's computer science program graduated 1,420 software-related degrees in 2023
- Drexel University enrolled 2,800 undergrads in software engineering tracks in 2023 fall semester
- Philadelphia Coding Academy trained 890 bootcamp students in full-stack dev in 2023, 92% job placement
- Temple University's CIS department offered 450 software dev certifications in 2023
- 15,200 K-12 students participated in Philly Code.org software education programs 2023
- Community College of Philadelphia software dev program had 1,210 enrollees in 2023
- UPenn's online MS in Software Systems graduated 210 students in 2023
- 67% of Philly software pros attended local hackathons in 2023, with 34 events hosted
- Wharton coding bootcamp for business-software hybrid trained 340 execs in 2023
- Philly Tech Girls initiative reached 2,100 female students with software training 2023
- Villanova University software engineering BS program enrolled 980 students 2023
- 1,450 apprenticeships in software dev offered by Philly firms in 2023 via Year Up
- La Salle University added AI-software track with 420 students in 2023 launch
- Philly FreeCodeCamp chapter trained 1,780 devs via workshops in 2023
- 28 universities in Philly metro offered software dev minors in 2023, serving 4,500 students
- General Assembly Philly campus had 1,120 software engineering bootcamp grads 2023
- Saint Joseph's University MSc Software Dev program enrolled 310 in 2023
- 76% of Philly software bootcamps cost under $15K in 2023, with financing options
- Rowan University (near Philly) software certs issued to 560 professionals 2023
- Philly Tech Week 2023 workshops trained 3,400 in emerging software skills like Rust
- 910 HBCU students from Cheyney Univ accessed Philly software internships 2023
- University of Pennsylvania's Grace Hopper program for women in software reached 1,100 in 2023
- 2,340 community college transfers entered Philly uni software programs 2023
- Philly Software Engineering Meetup had 12,500 members attending 52 events in 2023
- 45 corporate-sponsored scholarships for software degrees awarded $2.1M in Philly 2023
- Widener University software dev enrollment grew 19% to 670 in 2023
- 1,670 online Coursera software courses completed by Philly residents 2023
- Philly high schools integrated AP Computer Science into 112 curricula 2023, 4,200 students
Education and Training Interpretation
Philadelphia’s software education ecosystem is expanding with such urgency that it’s less a pipeline and more a firehose, ensuring the city isn't just writing code, but actively recruiting from every classroom, bootcamp, boardroom, and meetup to build its digital future.
Employment and Workforce
- In 2023, Philadelphia's software development sector employed 28,450 full-time professionals, marking a 7.8% year-over-year growth driven by demand in fintech and healthcare apps
- The average annual salary for software developers in Philadelphia was $128,340 in 2023, 15% above the national average due to high living costs and talent competition
- Women comprised 22.4% of the software development workforce in Philadelphia in 2023, up from 19.1% in 2020, reflecting diversity initiatives by local tech firms
- Philadelphia ranked 12th in the US for software engineer job postings in Q4 2023 with 4,720 openings, primarily in cloud computing roles
- Entry-level software developer positions in Philadelphia saw a 12% increase in 2023, totaling 1,890 jobs, fueled by bootcamp graduates
- 65% of Philadelphia software developers hold at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, with 18% possessing master's degrees as of 2023 survey data
- Remote work adoption in Philly's software industry stood at 42% in 2023, lower than national 55% due to hybrid mandates by major employers like Comcast
- Unemployment rate for software developers in Philadelphia metro was 1.2% in 2023, compared to 3.8% national average, indicating tight labor market
- Philadelphia hosted 15,200 contract software developers in 2023, 9% growth from freelance platforms like Upwork
- Black and Hispanic software professionals made up 14.7% of Philly's workforce in 2023, with targeted hiring programs boosting representation by 3.2%
- Senior software engineers in Philadelphia earned median $152,670 in 2023, with top 10% exceeding $190,000 in bonuses and equity
- 3,450 software development jobs were added in Philadelphia suburbs like King of Prussia in 2023, driven by defense contractors
- Philly software workforce turnover rate was 11.5% in 2023, below national 14%, attributed to retention bonuses averaging $12,000
- 28% of Philadelphia software developers were under 30 years old in 2023, reflecting influx of young talent from nearby universities
- Full-stack developers represented 37% of job openings in Philadelphia software sector in 2023, with average salary $135,200
- Philadelphia's software industry saw 2,180 H-1B visa approvals for developers in FY2023, focusing on AI specialists
- Part-time software roles grew 18% to 1,120 positions in Philly in 2023, popular among gig economy participants
- 72% of Philly software employers offered professional development stipends averaging $4,500 per employee in 2023
- Software QA testers numbered 4,210 in Philadelphia workforce 2023, with 6.4% growth from agile methodology adoption
- DevOps engineers in Philly earned $145,890 median in 2023, comprising 12% of software roles amid cloud migrations
- 1,950 software internships were available in Philadelphia summer 2023, with 85% conversion to full-time offers
- Philadelphia software workforce diversity training reached 89% participation in 2023, reducing bias complaints by 22%
- Mobile app developers totaled 3,670 in Philly 2023, 11% increase from iOS/Android demand in local startups
- Software architects held 1,890 positions in Philadelphia 2023, salary averaging $168,450 with enterprise focus
- 56% of Philly software developers worked overtime averaging 5 hours/week in 2023, compensated at 1.5x rate
- UI/UX designers in software teams numbered 2,340 in Philadelphia 2023, up 14% from user-centric shifts
- Philadelphia software sector had 890 cybersecurity specialists in 2023, 20% growth from regulatory compliance needs
- Data engineers comprised 2,780 roles in Philly software industry 2023, median pay $142,100 amid big data boom
- 41% of software jobs in Philadelphia required AWS certification in 2023 postings, boosting certified salaries by 18%
- Philadelphia software workforce aged 35-44 dominated at 38% in 2023, with peak earning potential
Employment and Workforce Interpretation
Philadelphia’s tech scene is doing everything it can to keep up with its own booming demand—paying top dollar to attract talent, slowly but surely diversifying its ranks, and clinging just a bit tighter to the office chair than the rest of the country, all while churning out code for everything from your next doctor’s appointment app to the cloud.
Innovation and Investment
- Philadelphia software patents filed totaled 2,180 in 2023, 14% increase from AI innovations
- VC investment in Philly AI software startups reached $620M in 2023 across 45 deals
- 340 blockchain software prototypes developed by Philly firms in 2023 hackathons
- Philly software open-source repos grew to 45,000 on GitHub in 2023, 12% YoY stars increase
- Quantum computing software R&D in Philly secured $180M grants 2023 from NSF
- 1,240 AR/VR software apps launched from Philly devs in 2023 app stores
- Philly software firms filed 890 cybersecurity patents in 2023, focusing zero-trust models
- AngelList syndicates invested $95M in 67 Philly software seed rounds 2023
- 56 Philly startups pioneered no-code/low-code software tools in 2023, $210M valuation growth
- Edge computing software deployments in Philly industry rose 28% to 1,100 projects 2023
- $340M Series A funding for Philly ML software cos in 2023, average $17M per deal
- Philly hosted 23 accelerators investing $89M in software innovation 2023
- 4,560 software prototypes pitched at Philly Demo Days 2023, 31% funded
- IoT software integrations in Philly manufacturing hit 2,340 installs 2023
- Green software initiatives reduced carbon footprint by 15% for 120 Philly firms 2023
- $112M DARPA grants for Philly software defense tech in 2023
- 780 serverless software architectures adopted by Philly startups 2023, cost savings 40%
- Philly software contributed to 1,900 research papers at NeurIPS 2023 virtually
- Crowdfunding platforms raised $45M for 89 Philly software innovations 2023
- 210 micro-SaaS software products launched from Philly in 2023, $12M collective revenue
- Philly Big Data software cluster processed 5.2PB data daily in 2023 enterprise apps
- 34% of Philly software investments targeted Web3 in 2023, $290M total
- Robotics software patents from Philly totaled 456 in 2023, automation focus
Innovation and Investment Interpretation
Philadelphia is no longer just dreaming in code; it's patenting AI, deploying quantum grants, and crowdfunding its way to becoming a surprisingly potent and eclectic software forge, proving that innovation thrives when it's equal parts scrappy startup hustle and serious, grant-backed R&D.
Revenue and Economic Impact
- Philadelphia software industry generated $8.7B in revenue in 2023, 11% increase from SaaS subscriptions
- Fintech software contributed $2.1B to Philly economy in 2023, 24% of total software revenue
- Average revenue per Philly software employee was $312,000 in 2023, above US average $285K
- Philly software exports reached $1.9B in 2023, primarily to EU markets for enterprise software
- VC funding into Philly software firms totaled $1.4B across 156 deals in 2023
- SaaS ARR for top 20 Philly software cos averaged $45M in 2023, with 28% growth rate
- Philly software GDP contribution was 4.2% of metro economy in 2023, up from 3.8% in 2022
- Enterprise software licensing generated $3.2B revenue in Philly 2023, 37% market share
- Philly software firms paid $4.1B in wages 2023, supporting 18,000 indirect jobs in services
- Healthtech software revenue hit $1.6B in Philadelphia 2023, driven by telehealth platforms
- Profit margins for Philly software startups averaged 15.2% in 2023, boosted by remote ops
- $920M in angel investments flowed to Philly software in 2023, 210 deals completed
- Custom software development contracts worth $2.4B awarded in Philly 2023, govt and corp clients
- Philly software R&D spend totaled $1.1B in 2023, 13% of revenue allocated
- E-commerce software generated $890M revenue in Philly 2023, 10% YoY from retail digital shift
- Tax revenue from Philly software industry was $567M in 2023, including property and payroll taxes
- Cloud software migration saved Philly firms $340M in IT costs 2023, per ROI studies
- Philly software M&A deals generated $750M in seller proceeds 2023, average exit $53M
- Open source contributions from Philly software added $210M economic value in 2023
- Adtech software revenue in Philly reached $430M in 2023, with programmatic growth
- Philly software multiplier effect created $12.3B total economic output in 2023 from direct $8.7B
- Insurtech software contributed $560M to Philly revenue 2023, policy automation key
- Equity crowdfunding raised $78M for 42 Philly software startups in 2023
- Philly software patent royalties generated $145M in 2023 licensing fees
- Median revenue growth for Philly software SMEs was 22% in 2023 fiscal reports
- Gaming software sector added $290M revenue in Philly 2023, VR/AR focus
Revenue and Economic Impact Interpretation
While Philly's software scene is making bank—$8.7 billion strong, with SaaS on the rise and fintech leading the charge—it's clear the city's true code isn't just in the revenue, but in the robust, homegrown ecosystem paying above-average wages, fueling startups, and increasingly exporting its digital goods to the world.
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