Virtual data rooms for Philadelphia deals, audits and legal matters

What sets Philadelphia's economy apart

The industry that stands out most in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro, measured against the national mix, is data processing and hosting. Its 554 establishments are 1.6 times the share you would expect from the country as a whole. Next come corporate and regional headquarters (1,469 establishments, 1.6 times) and chemical manufacturing (350 establishments, 1.3 times). Of the 60 metros on these pages with published figures for data processing and hosting, Philadelphia ranks 7th, behind Wilmington, DE and others.

Hosting and data businesses share security audits, customer contracts and infrastructure leases during diligence.

Headquarters run the deals: acquisitions, divestitures and financings are managed from these offices. In corporate and regional headquarters, Philadelphia places 6th of 61 metros here; Wilmington, DE leads.

How Philadelphia compares

The Census Bureau estimated the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro's population at 6,330,422 in July 2024, up 85,405 or 1.4 percent on the April 2020 base of 6,245,017.

Measured against the 2023 estimate of 6,280,902, the same year as the business count, Philadelphia has 51.7 offices of lawyers per 100,000 residents, 32nd of the 59 metro areas on these pages against a median of 52.6; the nearest rates are Burlington, VT at 51.2 and Houston, TX at 50.9.

The metro with the closest number of law offices is Washington, DC, with 3,508; the metro closest in population, Atlanta, GA at 6,411,149 residents, has 4,050 law offices and 3,125 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll establishments.

Counted by accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms instead, Philadelphia's nearest match is Phoenix, AZ, with 2,254.

• Residents, July 2024: 6,330,422
• Residents, April 2020 base: 6,245,017
• Change since 2020: +85,405 (1.4 percent), 41st of 59
• Law offices per 100,000 residents: 51.7, 32nd of 59
• Accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll per 100,000 residents: 35.4, 50th of 59
• Securities and investment per 100,000 residents: 38.9, 31st of 59
• Managing offices per 100,000 residents: 16.2, 24th of 59
• Real estate agents and brokers per 100,000 residents: 30.9, 55th of 59
• Employees in offices of lawyers: about 33,000
• Employees in accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll: about 25,000

The courts and regulators behind Philadelphia paperwork

When a Philadelphia dispute reaches federal court, it goes to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

CPAs practicing in Pennsylvania are licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy.

At state level, securities offerings and investment advisers in Pennsylvania answer to the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, so a Philadelphia fund raising money or an adviser facing an exam has documents to produce on request.

If personal information in a Philadelphia deal, audit or case file is exposed, Pennsylvania's data breach notification law sets who has to be told and when.