Highlights

The Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT) contracted SSRS to conduct the 2025 Philadelphia Residents Survey to assess Philadelphian’s views of their city. The study was an Address Based Sample (ABS) study in which SSRS surveyed residents in Philadelphia to help the Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT) understand what residents think about Philadelphia, their perceptions of the job the current mayor is doing, and how they feel about important public policy issues and current events facing the city.

Challenge

The client was interested in three key subgroups: African American/Black, Hispanic, and Asian Philadelphians. In order to achieve a sufficient sample size, SSRS oversampled Asian and Hispanic Philadelphians and closely monitored the number of completed interviews with Black Philadelphians to ensure that the client would be able to conduct analyses of these three subgroups.

Approach

SSRS was able to achieve the goals for this study through a stratified ABS sample that was released in two phases. The sample design divided Philadelphia County into seven neighborhoods and five race density strata based on the incidence of Asian and Hispanic residents at the block level. Additionally, surname flags were also used to target Asian and Hispanic respondents. These flags were used to determine what oversampling would be needed in the second sample release to get a sufficient number of Asian and Hispanic interviews.

Results

Understanding Philadelphians’ views of their city is crucial for identifying the issues that resonate most with them. To gain a clear and accurate picture, it was essential to reflect the city’s demographic diversity. Through SSRS’s careful planning and execution, the study captured the perspectives of residents across different neighborhoods and communities. Steps—such as focusing on areas with higher populations of Asian and Hispanic residents and using surname flags—helped ensure these groups were meaningfully included in the survey. These efforts ensured that Black, Asian, and Hispanic Philadelphians were adequately represented in the sample. As a result, the findings provided a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of the broader Philadelphia population and the diverse experiences within it.