Philadelphia High Schoolers Are More Sexually Active Than Kids in Other Cities


The Pew Charitable Trusts recently released its State of the City 2013 report, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. There are many depressing tidbits, and a few bright spots, but here’s something we noticed that seems interesting: when asked if they were sexually active, a higher percentage of Philly high schoolers said yes than those in 20 other cities.

Forty-five percent (45%) of the Philly kids described themselves as “currently active.” Here are some other numbers:

New York: 25%
LA: 26%
Detroit: 35%
Boston: 36%
Chicago: 38%
DC: 42%

Then there was the issue of how many partners the kids have had. Philadelphia won that battle too, with 27% of city high schoolers reporting they’d had intercourse with four or more partners. Other cities:

New York: 12%
LA: 9%
Detroit: 20%
Boston: 22%
Chicago: 18%
DC: 24%

These kinds of stats aren’t good for the city’s attempt to bring more residents here. It’s hard enough to persuade homebuyers with kids to make an investment in Philadelphia County given the school situation. How many real estate agents can legitimately sell a home based on catchment? Those with properties in the Penn Alexander, McCall and Meredith catchments are very fortunate.

And that’s just elementary school. The report also found that only two high schools–Masterman and Central–had students performing above the national average on the SAT Reasoning tests (though it should be noted that MaST Community Charter was above the state average). Overall, the educational stats in the report are shocking: Fully 19 percent of adult Philadelphians have never even graduated from high school, and not even a quarter have a college degree.

Some parents worry more about grades, some more about sex. For those more concerned with the latter, you now know to move if you want a more cloistered experience. Just not to Washington, DC.

Pew State of the City 2013