List of tallest buildings in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is the largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, with a metropolitan area population of 6.3 million as of 2024. Philadelphia is home to more than 350 completed high-rise buildings,^[1] 86 of which are 300 feet (91 m) or taller. Philadelphia has the largest skyline in Pennsylvania, and has the third most skyscrapers taller than 492 ft (150 m) in the Northeastern United States, after New York City and Boston. Seven of the ten tallest buildings in Pennsylvania are in Philadelphia; the remainder are in Pittsburgh.^[2] The tallest building in Philadelphia is the Comcast Technology Center, the city's sole supertall skyscraper, and the tallest building in the United States outside of New York City and Chicago. The 1,113 ft (339 m), 59-story building was opened in 2018.^[3][4][5]

Philadelphia has an extensive history of tall structures, generally thought to have begun with the 1754 addition of the steeple to Christ Church.^[6] The Philadelphia City Hall was the first building in the world to surpass a height of 500 ft (152 m) when it topped out in 1894, and remained the world's tallest buiding until 1908. Philadelphia had one of the largest pre-war construction booms in the United States, having built 18 buildings taller than 300 ft (91 m) by the early 1930s. The Great Depression and World War II halted skyscraper development until the late 1950s. From the 1960s to 1980s, Philadelphia added a large number of office buildings to its skyline in a second boom. For most of the 20th century, a "gentlemen's agreement" imposed an unofficial height limit, restricting the height of any new skyscraper below that of the 548-foot (167 m) Philadelphia City Hall.^[7]

This agreement was broken with the topping out of One Liberty Place in 1987; at 945 feet (288 m), it exceeded the height of the city hall by almost 400 feet (122 m). Its twin, Two Liberty Place, was completed in 1990, near the end of the boom. Little development occurred during the 1990s, while a fire at One Meridian Plaza led to the rare demolition of a notable skyscraper in 1998. Construction resumed in the 2000s, with an increasing share of residential development. Comcast, which is based in Philadelphia, is responsible for the city's two tallest buildings. The 973 ft (297 m) Comcast Center was completed as the company's headquarters in 2008. It was the city's tallest building until the adjacent Comcast Technology Center was built in 2018, whose central floors house additional office space for Comcast.

Despite being one of the oldest cities in the United States, the twelve tallest buildings in Philadelphia were all built after 1986, due to the former gentlemen's agreement. Philadelphia's tallest buildings are largely concentrated in Center City, the city's central business district, mainly on its western half. Delaware River marks the end of the skyline to the east. Since the 2000s, Philadelphia's skyline has also expanded westwards past the Schuylkill River, towards University City. At 730 ft (223 m), FMC Tower at Cira Centre South is the Philadelphia's tallest building outside of Center City. The Schuykill Yards development plans to add several new skyscrapers to a plot of land northeast of Drexel University. A few high-rises can be found in and around Temple University, north of Center City.