Philadelphia, PA Zoning

31 districts. 3 overlays.
This profile is an earlier edition — some fields may be incomplete. An updated profile is in progress.

Overview

Worth knowing
  • Rowhouse city — RSA-5 most common district, attached housing dominant. [confirmed]
  • RSA-5 lot subdivision to 800 sf if 75% adjacent lots ≤1,000 sf. [confirmed §14-701 Note 2]
  • Third-story setback rule in RSA-5 — 8 ft step-back if neighbors have only 2 stories. [confirmed]

+ 7 more in Quirks & notes

Districts

res_sf 10com 8res_mf 4mu 4ind 4spec 1
CodeNameCategory Min lotHeight CoverageFAR Du/acParking Setbacks F/S/R
RSA-1Residential Single-Family 1res_sf / /
RSA-2Residential Single-Family 2res_sf / /
RSA-3Residential Single-Family 3res_sf / /
RSA-4Residential Single-Family 4res_sf / /
RSA-5Residential Single-Family 5res_sf800 sf / /
RSA-6Residential Single-Family 6res_sf35 ft / /
RT-1Residential Two-Family 1res_sf / /
RT-2Residential Two-Family 2res_sf / /
RTA-1Residential Two-Family Attached 1res_sf2,250 sf / /
RTA-2Residential Two-Family Attached 2res_sf1,080 sf / /
RM-1Residential Multi-Family 1res_mf / /
RM-2Residential Multi-Family 2res_mf / /
RM-3Residential Multi-Family 3res_mf / /
RM-4Residential Multi-Family 4res_mf / /
RMX-1Residential Mixed-Use 1mu / /
RMX-2Residential Mixed-Use 2mu / /
RMX-3Residential Mixed-Use 3mu / /
CMX-1Commercial Mixed-Use 1com / /
CMX-2Commercial Mixed-Use 2com / /
CMX-2.5Commercial Mixed-Use 2.5com / /
CMX-3Commercial Mixed-Use 3com / /
CMX-4Commercial Mixed-Use 4com0 / /
CMX-5Commercial Mixed-Use 5com0 / /
CA-1Commercial Auto-Oriented 1com / /
CA-2Commercial Auto-Oriented 2com / /
IRMXIndustrial-Residential Mixed-Usemu / /
ICMXIndustrial Commercial Mixed-Useind / /
I-1Industrial 1ind / /
I-2Industrial 2ind / /
I-3Industrial 3ind / /
SP-CIVSpecial Purpose — Civicspec-1 ft0.84 / 0 / 9

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

Overlays

H
Historic District Overlay
HP
Ch. 14-1000

Designated historic districts and individual landmarks

reviewHistorical Commission review required
scopeExterior changes, new construction, additions, demolition
CC-SC
Cobbs Creek Special Controls
COR
Title 14

Cobbs Creek corridor area

RB-SC
Roosevelt Boulevard Special Controls
COR
Title 14

Roosevelt Boulevard corridor area

Adopted building codes

Most jurisdictions opt in

2018
2021
2020
2018
IECC (Residential)
2018
IECC (Commercial)
2018

Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.

Quirks & notes

  • Rowhouse city — RSA-5 most common district, attached housing dominant. [confirmed]
  • RSA-5 lot subdivision to 800 sf if 75% adjacent lots ≤1,000 sf. [confirmed §14-701 Note 2]
  • Third-story setback rule in RSA-5 — 8 ft step-back if neighbors have only 2 stories. [confirmed]
  • RTA-2 district (June 2025) with 1,080 sf minimum lot. [confirmed]
  • 3/4-height setback rule for higher-density districts. [confirmed §14-701 Note 7]
  • CMX-4/CMX-5 parking elimination for MF (June 2025). [confirmed Bill 250524]
  • SP-CIV no height limit. [confirmed]
  • Pennsylvania: no state preemption as of late 2025. [confirmed]
  • Rowhouse lot frontage must be at least 2/3 of minimum lot width. [confirmed]
  • Tree replacement: all healthy trees ≥2.5 in DBH removed must be replaced. [confirmed §14-705]

Formulas

Definitions

height
Grade to highest point of structure. Title 14.
lot_coverage
Building footprint / lot area. Principal + accessory.
far
Gross floor area / lot area.
du_ac
impervious_cover
setback_front
Front property line to nearest building face.
setback_side
Side property line to nearest building face.
setback_rear
Rear property line to nearest building face.
parking
Spaces per dwelling unit unless noted.
three_quarter_height_setback
Side/rear setback = 3/4 building height in higher-density districts. §14-701 Note 7

Capacity calculations

max_footprint_sf
lot_area_sf * lot_coverage
max_gfa_sf
lot_area_sf * far
buildable_width_ft
lot_width_ft - setback_side_ft * 2
buildable_depth_ft
lot_depth_ft - setback_front_ft - setback_rear_ft
buildable_envelope_sf
buildable_width_ft * buildable_depth_ft
max_stories_approx
max_height_ft / 10
max_gfa_from_envelope
min(buildable_envelope_sf * max_stories_approx, max_gfa_sf)
parking_required
units * parking

Massing explorer

Interactive 3D comparison across every district. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, use the slider to walk districts, and toggle applicable overlays in the right-side panel.

Sort by
LOW
HIGH
drag to orbit · scroll to zoom
Max height
ft
Floor area ratio
Lot coverage
%
Setbacks (F / S / R)
ft
Parking
/unit
Max density
du/ac
Min lot size
sf
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District Category Height FAR Coverage Setbacks Parking Density Min lot Overlays

Research status

Data quality

40%completeness62 confirmed30 partial10 inferred
Documented gaps
  • Most district dimensional KPIs not extracted from §14-701 Table 14-701-1
  • CMX series setback/height values not extracted
  • RM series density calculations not extracted
  • Full overlay list from Ch. 14-500 not retrieved

Known issues

schema:v1-legacypriority:lowdata:gaps-present

Other cities in this state

Nearest-alphabetical profiles. Click through to compare zoning patterns side-by-side.